Report: The NBA is targeting July 31 as date for its return to play

As the NBA continues to plan its return to play, we finally have a date that we can circle on the calendar.

The much-anticipated conference call between the NBA’s Commissioner Adam Silver and the NBA’s Board of Governors took place on Friday, and although no formal vote took place on the call, one major piece of news was reported.

According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, on that call, Silver not only laid out four distinctive return-to-play options that the league will ponder over the next few days (and perhaps weeks), but a date: July 31.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve come to understand that the players have seemed to be against the idea of returning and heading directly into the playoffs. After such a long layoff, players will need some time to work themselves back into shape and teams that were incorporating newly acquired pieces around the trade deadline will want a few more games to develop chemistry before the high stakes games begin.

So a July 31 target date makes sense in that regard. With training facilities having already been opened up across the majority of the league, two additional months would seem to be enough time for organizations to begin team activities and, presumably, for the league to find a way to build exhibition games into their planned return.

Obviously, the shift in schedule will have a dramatic impact on the league’s normal operations. Traditionally, by Memorial Weekend, the conference finals were well underway with the NBA Finals normally commencing within the first 10 days of June.

That won’t be the case this season, but the good news for those hoping that basketball would return is that it appears that it will… And now, there appears to be a date to circle on the calendar, even if it may be subject to change.