No doubt about it, the NBA Cup is Adam Silver’s most daring experiment yet. To add an in-season tournament in the middle of the league’s marathon-esque regular season schedule is a logistical nightmare. He hopes it eventually adds intrigue to the beginning of the season for the next wave of NBA fans.

For now, though, the NBA remains open-minded with feedback and suggestions. They understand it’s a work in progress. One of the adjustments they’ve made won’t occur until next season. You can say goodbye to week-long stays in Las Vegas in December.

The NBA Cup semifinals will now be held at the home market of the higher seed. Under that scenario, the Thunder would’ve hosted the San Antonio Spurs for their semifinals matchup. The championship game will still be in Las Vegas.

Considering the Thunder have experienced the Las Vegas distractions two years in a row, they welcome the change. It gives them an additional home game, where OKC has been nearly unbeatable sans a couple of shocking game-winners in the playoffs last year.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault loves the change. It adds further incentive. Beyond just the half-million grand prize awaiting the NBA Cup champion.

“Yeah, I think it’s a good change by them, and it’s further incentive. They want these Cup games to be elevated. Obviously the cash prize does that. The difference of branding or whatever does that. They are on TV. They are isolated to certain nights. They have done a nice job there,” Daigneault said. “But I think it’s further incentive to really go after those games if you can potentially get an extra home game out of it, for sure.”

The Thunder have used the NBA Cup settings as a trial run for what to expect in the NBA playoffs. Once we enter that stage of the season, attention multiplies tenfold. Everybody in OKC should know this by now, considering it just went through a dramatic seven-game series in the 2025 NBA Finals.

But I like the change. It lessens the travel schedule. Under no scenario should teams get punished for advancing to the NBA Cup semifinals. The Thunder have seen that these last two years with their post-Cup schedule. Last year, they jumped three time zones as they went to Florida for two games against the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat. This year, it created an additional back-to-back as their home game against the LA Clippers was pushed back a day.