The MLS does something similar - I think, soccer fans please feel free to expand on this - but the big difference is it includes teams from other leagues.
If they could somehow incorporate global clubs into this, even for the knock out stages, I think it’d be very interesting. Even if the NBA teams destroyed them. But when it’s only NBA teams it feels kind of gimmicky for TV ratings.
My thought when I first heard the idea is they are trying to appeal to the global soccer fan with this model (something casual non-soccer watching fans don’t understand, like me) but whiffed on what makes those continent / global wide tournaments appealing.