Haliburton said the winner should get a guaranteed playoff spot, which is a nice idea for incentive but probably wouldn’t work because the teams that won could just half-ass it the rest of the season.
I have a couple non-in depth incentives in mind, in addition to the cash prizes.
- If the winner of the in-season tournament makes the playoffs, they get to choose their first round opponent. Would create lots of drama and storylines, while also increasing viewership.
If the winner of the in-season tournament doesn’t make the playoffs, they get increased lottery odds. Still a very good incentive for bad or young teams.
- The team who wins gets an extra first round pick. Probably a lesser incentive compared to the first one, but still something teams would want.
What incentives would you guys add if the in-season tournament is permanent?
The winner automatically gets a higher seed. So if they finish the regular season as the 6th seed, they get bumped up to the 4th seed for instance and the rest move one spot down. This way it still impacts the playoffs but doesn't allow the team to completely ignore the regular season.
Another one could be to give the winning team's players more load management days. Or they could remove back to back games from the winner's remaining schedule.