The NBA revealed the schedule for its first-ever in-season tournament on Tuesday.

Group Play will take place across all four Fridays and the final three Tuesdays of November. Two winners from each of the six groups — plus one wild card team from each conference (the highest finishing team not to win a group) — will advance to the quarterfinals, which will be played on Dec. 4 and Dec. 5. The higher-seeded team in each matchup will host. The semifinals (Dec. 7) and championship game (Dec. 9) will go down at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The players on the winning team will earn $500,000. $200,000 will be awarded to the runners-up. $100,000 goes to semifinalists, and quarterfinalists take home $50,000. Excluding the championship, the games will be built into the 82-game regular season.

The Los Angeles Lakers are in West Group A, along with the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz, Memphis Grizzlies, and Portland Trail Blazers. Here's their Group Play schedule:

  • Fri. Nov. 10 — at Suns (8 p.m. PT)
  • Tue. Nov. 14 – vs. Grizzlies (7:30 p.m. PT)
  • Fri. Nov. 17 — at Blazers (7:00 p.m. PT)
  • Tue. Nov. 21 — vs. Jazz (7:oo p.m. PT)

This far out, it's impossible to gauge how individual players and teams will approach the tournament, especially in its inaugural iteration. As for the Lakers, there are a few reasons why, upon initial analysis and speculation, I don't love their chances of triumphing in Vegas.

Why the Lakers won't win the In-Season Tournament

3) Chemistry

The Lakers prioritized continuity this offseason, but they still have a handful of pieces — Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes, Cam Reddish, Taurean Prince, free agent center X — to incorporate into the fold and other variables to sort out. Will Max Christie earn the starting two-guard role in training camp? Does rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino have a shot to crack the rotation early? How will point guard/lead ballhandler duties be distributed among Vincent, Austin Reaves, D'Angelo Russell, and LeBron James? How often will they deploy two-big lineups?

The Lakers' in-season tournament begins 17 days after their regular-season tips-off on Oct. 24 against the Denver Nuggets. Certainly, the fellow teams in their group have things to figure out, as well — and the Grizzlies will be without Ja Morant and the Blazers could be sans Damian Lillard — but it's entirely plausible that Darvin Ham and the Lakers will be in tinker mode. They might even decide to use the tournament as their own experimental platform.

2) Load management

The Lakers know the health of their only guys over 30 — LeBron and Anthony Davis — is paramount to their success in May and June.

“A lot of luck goes into that,” Ham caveated while discussing the Lakers' championship aspirations this week. “Obviously, at our level, you have to be healthy.”

LeBron and AD led the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals while playing through serious right foot injuries that may have required offseason surgery (that has not been disclosed). How hard are the Lakers — boasting a youthful, deep roster — going to want LeBron and AD to go during a meaningless (for now) early-season event? Do they really want to be one of the two teams in the league to play 83 games?

By no means do I think either player, if healthy, will actually sit out a tournament game, unless they feel like infuriating Adam Silver just for kicks. But, I could envision them holding out if any minor injury occurs, or, more likely, not going 100% and seeing their minutes slightly reduced.

1) Care factor

LeBron still isn't a fan of the Play-In tournament, despite having success in those games. Maybe he's a gigantic fan of the in-season tourney, but I would not be shocked if he roll his eyes at a significant change to the schedule in his 21st season (which is clearly motivated by money above anything else).

When asked about the in-season tournament on the “All The Smoke” podcast in July — as he was learning the details of it in real-time — a nonplussed Reaves shrugged instead of articulating any enthusiasm for the idea.

To my knowledge, the only Lakers player who has directly addressed the tournament was Vincent, who was not exactly a fan of the concept besides the prize money element.

“In terms of the In-Season Tournament, it does not make the most sense to me, candidly speaking,” he said on J.J. Redick's “The Old Man & The Three” podcast. “Being the ‘best league in the world,’ in terms of basketball, it didn’t make sense to me to copy what other leagues were doing. But, what do I know? I’m just a player. As far as the bonuses too, I know they tried to make it make sense for guys to want to play and compete, which is great. The bonuses will be awesome, especially if my team wins it, I’m looking forward to that.”

The Lakers have one goal for 2023-24: to raise an 18th banner. If they feel like making a full-throated effort to win the in-season tournament will help them accomplish that, then they'll be in the mix to win it. But, more likely, I can see them half-heartedly competing to win, using it as a testing ground, and making sure nobody gets hurt. We shall see.