Here’s a breakdown of the NBA in-season tournament

The NBA is installing a new caveat to the regular season by implementing an in-season tournament.

What's the in-season NBA tournament? What the heck is the NBA Cup? Let's break it down

How does the in-season tournament work?

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Between November and December, all 30 NBA teams will discretely, in some sense, participate in the NBA's in-season tournament. They will play four regular-season games between that time frame that count towards playing in the in-season tournament.

The NBA preemptively grouped five teams into six groups between both conferences as their initial opponents in the tournament. Each team will play every adversary in their group, accounting for four games. Two on the road, two at home.

The preliminary games will be played on seven November dates: four Fridays (Nov. 3, 10, 17 and 24) and three Tuesdays (Nov. 14, 21 and 28). The best record from each group will advance to the quarterfinals, along with two wild card teams, which are decided from the best records outside of the advancing team. One from each conference.

The quarterfinals will be played on Dec. 4 and 5 at the higher-seeded team, and the semifinals and championship game will be on Dec. 7 and 9 in Las Vegas. Four teams will make it to the semifinals and two to the championship. The championship does not count toward regular season play. Technically, those two teams will play 83 regular season games, instead of 82.

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What are the groups for the in-season tournament?

Here are the groupings for this season:

East A: Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons
East B: Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets
East C: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic
West A: Memphis Grizzlies, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, Portland Trail Blazers
West B: Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets
West C: Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs

Why will teams want to do this?

By making regular season games count for the NBA tournament, there's no reason not to put forth effort. If the NBA followed European soccer-style tournaments by having those games separate from regular season play, then the teams wouldn't have to try.

But, these in-season tournament games determine your standings for the playoffs. It would be a disadvantage for any NBA team not to try during these games.

Another incentive the NBA added is money. The players on the winning team will each get $500,000. And the runners-up will get $200,000. The losing players of the semifinals will each get $100,000, and the losing players of the quarterfinals will get $50,000.

Why is the NBA doing this?

November and December are arguably the most boring parts of the NBA's regular season schedule. They're months away from the end of the season and the playoffs. This adds some flare to their mundane schedule.

The in-season tournament is supposed to act as a cash cow for the league, too. The winning prize is the NBA Cup, which sooner or later will have a sponsorship, as will the "In-season tournament."

Further, the NBA can sell the television rights exclusively for these tournament games, as they expect viewership to be larger than any other game. Especially considering the actual playoff component, people will tune in to see the regular season championship unfold in Las Vegas.