The 2025 NBA Cup will be one of the marquee moments in the early part of the 2025-26 NBA regular season. The groups for the tournament have now been revealed, with the Milwaukee Bucks being set to enter the tournament’s easiest group. As Doc Rivers and company look to defend their title, they will begin group play with the advantage of having the weakest set of opponents.
The Milwaukee Bucks Enter the NBA’s Easiest Play-In Tournament Group
The Milwaukee Bucks have learned their NBA Cup opponents. As the tournament is split by conference, all of Milwaukee’s opponents are in the East. The draw includes all 30 teams and are balanced to include relatively equal average win-loss records from last year’s regular season.
In East Group C, Milwaukee will face the New York Knicks, the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls, and the Charlotte Hornets in their group. Milwaukee will face off against each team once, with their record and point differential being used to determine the standings. The top two teams will advance to the knockout phase, which includes eight total teams and culminates in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the semifinals and final will be played.
The groups are set for the Emirates NBA Cup 2025.
All 30 NBA teams were randomly drawn into groups of five within their conference based on win-loss records from the 2024-25 regular season.
The groups are available below. pic.twitter.com/ZZVUwtp3fO
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) July 9, 2025
Last year, Doc Rivers led the team to the 2024 NBA Cup title. The team hoisted the hardware in December, with Giannis Antetokounmpo being the competition’s MVP. While the team was unable to make any noise in the 2025 Playoffs, the 2024 NBA Cup triumph was one of the highlights of the season. The team will now look to defend their title in 2025.
The Milwaukee Bucks Enter the NBA’s Easiest Play-In Tournament Group
Statistically, the east’s Group C has the lowest average win percentage of any of the six groups. In theory, the Bucks have a much better chance to advance out of their group.
Here are all of the groups ranked by average win percentage:
West Group C (Rockets, Nuggets, Warriors, Blazers, Spurs) – 0.5366
West Group A (Thunder, Timberwolves, Kings, Suns, Jazz) – 0.5122
West Group B (Lakers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Mavericks, Pelicans) – 0.5074
East Group A (Cavaliers, Pacers, Hawks, Raptors, Wizards) – 0.4928
East Group B (Celtics, Pistons, Magic, Nets, 76ers) – 0.4782
East Group C (Knicks, Bucks, Heat, Bulls, Hornets) – 0.4732
Of course, many teams across the league are going to be a lot better or a lot worse than last year. In East Group C, the Hornets figure to be much improved with the addition of two first round talents in Kon Knueppel and Liam McNeely. Miami just made a swing to add Norman Powell to a solid group led by Bam Adebayo. The Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals just last year and have strengthened their bench with Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele this offseason.
Milwaukee is also a lot different this upcoming season. They should like their chances to advance out of their group and hopefully, make it to Las Vegas for the Play-In Tournament final.
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