Once again, the Lakers were drawn into Group B for the NBA Cup and have compelling matchups like Luka Dončić’s former team, the Mavericks, on the schedule.
Now that the NBA has officially entered the 2025-26 calendar, the schedule for events is beginning to emerge.
On Wednesday, the league announced the draw for the NBA Cup groups and the Lakers were placed in Group B, just as they were last year. Effectively, the group they are drawn into is meaningless as there isn’t a difference between being in Group A vs. Group B.
While it’s the same group, the teams are different. This time, they’ll face the Clippers, Pelicans, Mavericks and Grizzlies.
The NBA states the group drawings were random and based on win-loss records from the 2024-25 regular season.
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 season, the Lakers failed to advance out of Group B, which included the Suns, Thunder, Jazz and Spurs. OKC won the group and made it to the NBA Cup final, losing to the Bucks 97-81.
Hopefully, the Lakers will be able to return to glory this season and win it all, just as they did back in 2023.
This year, the Lakers have some intriguing matchups for the NBA Cup. They’ll take on their inner-city rival, the Clippers, which is always a good time. They’ll also face Luka Dončić’s former team, the Mavericks, and every time he plays them for the rest of his career, people will be eager to watch.
Group games will take place from Oct. 31 through Nov. 28 on Cup Nights.
Similar to last year, Cup Nights will take place every Friday during that span with additional Cup Nights on Tuesday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 26.
On these Cup Nights, no other NBA action will take place. While these are NBA Cup games, they will also count as regular-season results.
The quarterfinals will take place on Dec. 9 and 10, and the semifinals are scheduled for Dec. 13. The championship will occur on Dec. 16.
Similar to previous iterations, the quarterfinals will take place in traditional NBA markets, but the semifinals and the championship will be held in Las Vegas. All knockout round games will be available on NBA on Prime Video.
While we know the Lakers’ opponents, the schedule has not yet been released. The NBA states it will reveal those details sometime in August.
Hopefully, we will also receive special jerseys and courts, similar to what we had last season, to help differentiate these games from traditional regular-season action.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.