In an odd development, as it coincided with the start of free agency, the NBA officially unveiled the 2026 Emirates NBA Cup groups, schedule, and a new championship venue on Tuesday.
The format remains unchanged, with teams drawn into groups based on their 2025-26 regular-season records.
With all that, the New York Knicks now know their path to repeat as the defending champions of the not-fake-anymore tournament. And the Knicks, coming off a championship season, landed in a top-tier group.
Now, for
the conspirators out there, New York will be part of the highly suspicious ‘East Group B’ alongside (get ready) the Cleveland Cavaliers (ECF and LBJ suitors), Philadelphia 76ers (Ariel Hukporti’s new team), Miami Heat (new home if Giannis and LBJ suitors), and Indiana Pacers (2025 Finals runner-up with their No. 1 player back).
Oh, surprise, the doubly-reigning-champion Knicks landed in Group of Death of the 2026 edition of the Cup. Cash cow, NBA!
(To be honest, which I’m not, perhaps the draw results also had to do with the Pacers being disastrous and statistically awful, and the Heat for being mediocre at best only to then pull off the Giannis trade and instantly become kind of good.)
The tournament will tip off on Oct. 30, with group play games scheduled every Friday through Nov. 27, along with additional “Cup Nights” on Nov. 24 and Nov. 25. Each team will face the other four squads in its group once, with the three group winners and one wild card team per conference advancing to the knockout stage.
The knockout-stage dates have also been set, with the quarterfinals to be held Dec. 4-5, followed by the semifinals on Dec. 8 or Dec. 9. The tournament will end on Dec. 11 with the championship game, which again, will mark the 83rd game in whoever makes it there’s schedule, even though the stats won’t count for anything.
This year’s Cup final is also changing, if only in venue, as it will take place at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis instead of Sin City, marking the first time the event will be held outside Las Vegas. The choice of such a historic venue is part of the NBA’s plan to bring the Cup into more traditional basketball arenas, and the venue could change once again in the future.
For the Knicks, the stakes are clear. After becoming the first team to win both the NBA Cup and the NBA championship in the same season, New York will enter the tournament with a chance of pulling off the first-ever back-to-back in tournament history, as well as becoming the first NBA franchise to sandwich an NBA title with two Cup championships. See how we appreciate the tournament now, fellas? Give it some respect!
The Knicks’ 2025 Cup title preceded their championship run, while other Cup finalists, such as the San Antonio Spurs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Pacers, also translated Cup success into deep playoff runs but ultimately failed to win the ultimate prize in June.
You can follow Antonio on Twitter at @chapulana.
