The NBA Emirates Cup in-season tournament is back for its third season and the 2025 group draws were announced Wednesday.
Some basketball fans already are calling one West grouping the “Group of Death.”
The Warriors won Group C last season and find themselves in that same group for the 2025-26 season. The competition is stiff enough that teams have labeled it this year’s “Group of Death.”
Joining the Warriors in Group C are the Kevin Durant-led Houston Rockets, the Denver Nuggets, the San Antonio Spurs and the young Portland Trail Blazers.
The star-studded group boasts names like Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama, among others, and will be one for fans to keep an eye on.
As for the Kings, they’ll have their hands full in the West’s Group A, with the reigning NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Phoenix Suns and the Utah Jazz.
Sacramento did not fare as well in the 2024 NBA Cup, going just 1-3 during the four matchups, finishing dead last in their group.
The Kings will look to improve on their NBA Cup performance this season, but they’ll have a tough hill to climb against teams featuring 2024-25 MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker.
For the Thunder, they fell to the Milwaukee Bucks in last season’s NBA Cup championship before beating the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals in June.
The league implemented the NBA Cup in 2023 and it’s comprised of six groups – three Western Conference and three Eastern Conference — with five teams in each group.
The teams play four round-robin games, with the winner from each group and one wild card from each conference advancing to the knockout round.
The tournament tips off with “Cup Nights” every Friday, which begin on Oct. 31 and wrap up on Nov. 28. There will also be Cup games the week of Thanksgiving on Nov. 25, Nov. 26 and Nov. 28. Following group play, the semifinals and finals will take place in Las Vegas on Dec. 13 and 16, respectively.
While the schedule for the tournament isn’t out yet, we’re just a few short months away from some mid-season tournament basketball.
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