Maybe not. We'll see if anyone cares about a midseason tournament. I'll be curious to see how seriously the players take it. Like will the middle third franchises rest some players and use it to develop some guys? Since the games won't count, and they have little hope of winning, will it be treated like summer league games?

It does for me.

I think you'll see a non-zero change in the group stage but it will ramp quickly up. No one gives two fucka about FA cup early stages but top premier league soccer teams consider it just slightly less important than winning the league. I don't think it gets there or that the NBA was aiming for it but hey, don't underestimate the ability of owners to use marketing for fans and incentives for teams to make it important.