With Summer League going on and the Olympics on the horizon, it’s easy to forget that the 2024-25 NBA season is only a few months away. The league is getting ready, though, for not just the coming season but also the second annual NBA Cup. To get ready for the latter, the league has its NBA Cup Group Draw, putting teams into pods for the first stages of the in-season tournament. And one group in the Western Conference is raising eyebrows with fans calling it the “Group of Death.”
The NBA Cup “Group of Death” in the West is a five-team group that included the last three Western Conference NBA Finals representatives — the Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, and Golden State Warriors — along with the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies, two teams that could easily make the playoffs next season.
This group has a ton of subplots, from Klay Thompson and the Mavericks taking on his old team in the Warriors to the top two picks in the 2020 NBA Draft facing off when Ja Morant’s Grizzlies take on Zion Williamson’s Pelicans. However, most fans were just focused on how tough the group is overall.
“Group C is not fair lol,” X user @JayBanks22 said while quote-tweeting ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel’s announcement of the Western Conference groups.
“Group C crazy [crying emoji] Warzone,” @BrandZeeFoee wrote on social, while @JSG3_ added that, “Group C is gonna be a bloodbath.”
The NBA Cup “Group of Death” is packed top to bottom, in contrast to the other two West groups that aren’t as strong throughout.
Group A has the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets, and Portland Trail Blazers, while Group B includes the Oklahoma City Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Utah Jazz, and San Antonio Spurs.
In the East the groups are Group A with the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Brooklyn Nets, and Charlotte Hornets; Group B with the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Detroit Pistons; And Group C with the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers, Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, and Washington Wizards.
How the NBA Cup in-season tournament works
The 2024-25 NBA season kicks off on October 22, 2024, and the NBA Cup tournament Group Stage starts on November 12. From then until early December, each team will play the other four teams in its group once, with the top eight teams in the league advancing to the Knockout Stage.
From there, the tournament will get down to the final four semifinals and the finals which will happen on December 14 and 17 in Las Vegas.
During the 2023 NBA Cup, the Bucks, Pacers, Celtics, and Knicks made the Knockout Stage in the East while the Lakers, Kings, Pelicans, and Suns came out of the groups in the West.
The Bucks and Pacers made the semifinals, as did the Lakers and Pelicans. This led to a Lakers vs. Pacers NBA Cup final with LeBron James and the Lakers lifting the inaugural NBA Cup trophy.
With the groups now announced, the Celtics are the favorite to win the upcoming in-season tournament at +450, according to FanDuel. After that, the other favorites are the Thunder (+750), Bucks (+850), Knicks (+1000), Timberwolves (+1000), and 76ers (+1000).
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