With the entirety of the NBA season set to be flipped on its head, it seems anything could be possible in the coming weeks and months. The playoff format will certainly be drastically different once the season continues, whether it is a World Cup-style format or a more simple play-in tournament.
Once the plan for resuming the season is finalized, the next step will likely involve the scheduling of free agency and the NBA Draft. Both events typically take place during the summer off-season months and while free agency hasn’t yet officially been postponed in any formal manner, it obviously won’t be taking place as normal this season. This season, for example, the draft was originally slated for June 25 with free agency starting its normal July 1 date.
While the traditional schedule has had the draft preceding free agency, the league is reportedly discussing the potential of flipping the schedule around in the future.
Via Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Several league sources said the 2020 draft is expected to be pushed back from June 25 to September. Two of the sources also said the board of governors would also discuss whether the upcoming free-agency period should be moved ahead of the draft.
Notably, the NFL uses this format of having free agency before their draft. The argument could be that this allows teams to fill needs through free agency and then, potentially, draft the best talent available. In its current format, teams’ free agency plans are often dictated by which young player was brought into the fold via the draft.
There isn’t one way that is objectively better than the other as both have benefits. It seems like many of the decisions the league is making with regards to this season are experimental. Given the circumstances surrounding this season, it’s fair for the league to throw darts at a wall and see if anything hits the target and sticks.
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