The NBA is discussing a $1 million per player purse for the winners of the proposed 30-team, in-season tournament, league sources told ESPN.
The league is hopeful that an additional financial incentive would motivate players to treat a new tournament with a competitive fervor.
The NBA wants an in-season tournament that would begin with pool-play as part of the regular season schedule before the teams with best records advance to an eight-team single-elimination tournament that would culminate in mid-December, league sources said.
Some team executives are skeptical that would be the case. Among the concerns of top front office officials discussing these ideas with the league office: Many suspect that star players might prefer the five-day scheduling break that would come with not qualifying for the tournament rather than competing for the financial reward of a winner-take-all event that requires a quarterfinal, semifinal and title round to become champion.