Although the NBA isn’t expected to make any formal announcement concerning the resumption of its 2019-20 season before June, there is reason to be optimistic about the possibility.
On Monday, both the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets re-opened their training facilities for voluntary player workouts. Although team-organized events are still prohibited, getting players back into facilities — and more importantly, demonstrating that they can do so safely — has long been considered the first vital step toward the NBA seriously planning a return to play.
With the Thunder and Rockets opening back up, a total of 17 of the league’s teams have now partially resumed voluntary basketball activities.
According to Marc Stein of the New York Times, the Thunder and Rockets joined the Cleveland Cavaliers, Portland, Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Atlanta Hawks, Indiana Pacers, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans as the teams who have re-opened their doors to their players.
It is perhaps most important to note that if the regular season were declared over and that the playoff seeds were based on the standings as of March 11 — the day the league suspended play — 13 of those 16 presumptive playoff teams would among those who have re-opened.
The three teams that currently rank among the playoff contenders that are yet to re-open are the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Dallas Mavericks.
NBA teams that have either already opened their practice facilities or will be open for voluntary workouts as of Monday:
Cavaliers
Trail Blazers
Nuggets
Grizzlies
Heat
Magic
Bucks
Raptors
Hawks
Pacers
Jazz
Kings
Lakers
Clippers
Rockets
Pelicans— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 18, 2020
Aside from the Nets, Sixers and Mavericks, the training facilities of 10 other teams remain closed: Washington Wizards, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks, Detroit Pistons, Atlanta Hawks, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors.
The likeliest scenario at this point is that the league will forgo the remainder of the regular season.
As of March 11, every NBA team had played at least 63 games, with some playing as many as 66. Those numbers would represent 77% and 80% of the schedule, respectively. In other words: the gross majority of contests have been played.
Aside from draft positioning, the majority of league’s 14 worst teams would face long odds to qualify for the playoffs, so that is an important consideration for the league. Playing out a meaningless string of games simply wouldn’t be worth risking the health and safety of the necessary parties.
Of all franchises, the Wizards, Blazers, Pelicans and Kings would perhaps suffer most from a premature ending to the regular season. The Wizards trail the eighth-seeded Magic by 5.5 games in the Eastern Conference, while the Blazers, Pelicans and Kings each trail the eighth-seeded Grizzlies by 3.5 games out West.
That consideration has led to some conjecture as to the potential for some sort of “play in” scenario that the league may consider, but there have been no certain reports of any such decision.
With Monday’s news, though, one thing is certain: a return to play seems to be closer, even if only incrementally.