Tag: 2020-21 season

Two Thunder players held out of practice after positive COVID-19 tests

This is not good news.

As NBA teams prepare to tip-off their regular seasons beginning the week of Dec. 21, the league has been working feverishly to distribute updated COVID-19 guidelines.

In the interim, teams have begun testing their personnel, with the league announcing last week that of the 546 players between Nov. 24 and Nov. 30, that 48 of them returned positive COVID-19 tests.

The identities of the individual players weren’t released, but on Sunday, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault revealed that the team had two positive COVID tests among its players.

Although the coach did specify that two Thunder players tested positive, Daigneault (predictably) wouldn’t reveal their identities.

As a result of the positive tests, the team was limited to 11-15 players in practice.

The trade involving Danny Green being sent to Philadelphia in exchange for a package including veteran Al Horford is expected to be officially completed this week, meaning that the club could be getting some additional bodies.

For Oklahoma City, preseason competition will commence on Dec. 12 when the team pays a visit to the San Antonio Spurs.

Hopefully, by then, the club will all of its bodies available.

Thunder among few NBA teams with 0 games on national TV this season

No love for the Thunder.

With respect to the 2020-21 NBA season, the national television schedule-makers for the NBA’s television partners gave the Oklahoma City Thunder the Rodney Dangerfield treatment — no respect.

The club is just one of seven teams that will not have any of its games nationally televised, at least not during the first-half of the regular season.

On Friday, the league’s teams each released their individual schedules. For now, only the first-half of the games to be played this season have been scheduled, with the league planning to announce the second-half schedule at a later time.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers lead the way with 16 of its 37 announced games nationally televised. The Boston Celtics, Dallas Mavericks, New Orleans Pelicans and Golden State Warriors will each have 14 appearances on national television.

On the other end of the spectrum, joining the Thunder, are the Washington Wizards, San Antonio Spurs, Detriot Pistons, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings and Cleveland Cavaliers.

Most players look forward to appearances on national television. It’s an opportunity for them to promote themselves and to be seen by friends and family who may not be within the team’s local television market. Not even having one national game is bound to get noticed by players on the team.

The saving grace for the Thunder might be the fact that of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul and Steven Adams, only Durant’s return to Oklahoma City has been announced. He will make his return to Chesapeake Arena on Jan. 29, 2021. That game, however, will not be televised nationally.

Because only the first half of the season schedule has been released, it is not yet known when Westbrook, Paul or Adams will make their returns. But based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s safe to assume that the Thunder will be completely shut out.

While not surprising, it’s worth noting where the team stacks up in terms of what the league’s TV partners believe its fans want to see.

Report: NBA sets trade and playoff waiver deadlines for 2020-21 season

Details related to the 2020-21 NBA season are still trickling out.

The 2020-21 NBA season will be unlike any we’ve ever seen before, especially with the league seemingly making up its schedule as it goes along.

The league plans on announcing the first half of the regular season schedule this week but wants to maintain its ability to alter its plans in light of potential coronavirus outbreaks that could potentially cause games to have to be rescheduled.

So we’ll get the schedule, little by little, and we’ll get an All-Star break, though no All-Star game.

Nonetheless, there are some other important dates that the league had to figure out, and according to Shams Charania, the NBA has done just that.

The trade deadline for the 2020-21 season, pending approval from the league’s Board of Governors, will be March 25, 2021.

Similarly, the league’s playoff waiver deadline — the date by which a player has to be waived in order to be eligible to play in the postseason — will be April 9.

Those dates, obviously, are traditionally earlier in the year, but since the season is beginning in December, it would make sense for the league to extend those, as well.

After a flurry of moves this past offseason, it’s possible that Sam Presti will take it easy on the trade front, but with scores of draft picks over the next seven years, the Thunder are likely to be a highly-coveted trade partner.

See important dates of 2020-21 NBA season schedule

The NBA announced important dates of the 2020-21 season, including the play-in tournament, All-Star break and Hall of Fame ceremony.

Individual team schedules have not yet been released, but the NBA is announcing important dates for the 2020-21 season.

The regular season will take place from Dec. 22 through May 16 with the play-in tournament from May 18 to 21 and the playoffs beginning May 22.

Training camp begins Dec. 1 and the preseason starts Dec. 11. The Oklahoma City Thunder will play three games this preseason, including two against the Chicago Bulls and former Thunder head coach Billy Donovan.

The All-Star break will be March 5-10. The game itself and other events have been canceled, but players will get that week of rest.

The Hall of Fame induction ceremony for the 2020 class will be held from May 13 to 15. The group includes Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett.

The postseason is scheduled to end July 22, which would allow the league to achieve its goal of finishing its season by the time the 2021 Olympics begin.

Here’s a rundown of the key dates this season:

  • Dec. 1: Individual player workouts begin
  • Dec. 6: Group workouts begin
  • Dec. 11-19: Preseason
  • Dec. 12: Thunder play San Antonio Spurs at 6 p.m.
  • Dec. 16: Thunder play Bulls at 7 p.m.
  • Dec. 18: Thunder play Bulls at 7 p.m.
  • Dec. 22: NBA regular season begins
  • March 5-10: All-Star break
  • May 13-15: 2020 Hall of Fame Enshrinement
  • May 16: NBA regular season ends
  • May 18-21: Play-in tournament
  • May 22-July 22: 2021 NBA playoffs

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We may have some new details on when the 2020-21 NBA preseason begins

As expected, the 2020-21 NBA preseason will be shortened.

Sure, NBA basketball will be back before we know it, but to a large extent, it seems like the league is figuring things out as it goes along.

As we speak, we are yet to find out when the league will lift its trade moratorium, though we can safely expect that to occur sometime before Wednesday’s NBA Draft.

Similarly, we do know that the league is planning on beginning its 2020-21 season on Dec. 22, but until Saturday, details on the league’s preseason were unknown. When it was set to begin and how many games each team would play were both major unknowns.

For what it’s worth, the 2020-21 season will have each game compete in 72 games, with a play-in tournament possibly determining the final two playoff seeds in each conference.

Some additional light has been shed on the commencement of NBA basketball, thanks to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

According to the insider, the 2020-21 NBA preseason will be contested between Dec. 11 and Dec. 19 and will see each team play either three or four games. What the means is that after each franchise conducts its offseason business (including the draft), teams will convene for training camp on Dec. 1 and have about 10 days to prepare for preseason competition.

About a week of exhibition games will be followed by the regular season tipping off on or about Dec. 22 (not all teams are likely to play on opening night).

It’s safe to assume that the league is currently figuring out its scheduling, including the extent to which teams will travel. It should be noted that as the coronavirus pandemic has shown consistent signs of worsening over the past several weeks, that the league’s plans to commence its season under a more traditional format could be subject to change.

As of now, however, there are no reports suggesting otherwise, so for now, teams will continue to plan as if the regular season games will begin on Dec. 22 and — based on what we now know — that the exhibition season will begin about 10 days prior.

NBA and NBPA announce changes to CBA; free agency begins on Nov. 20

The NBA and NBPA agreed to revisions to its collective bargaining agreement on Monday — a necessary step before beginning the 2020-21 season.

We’ve known for a short while that the NBA’s players approved the league’s proposal to begin the 2020-21 season on Dec. 22, but things became real on Monday when the players union and the commissioner’s office released a joint statement announcing that the entities had formally agreed to revise the league’s collective bargaining agreement to address the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In short, the CBA contains provisions that allow either side to terminate it in the event of certain occurrences, one of which is a pandemic. In other words, the league and the players union could have failed to come to an agreement as to how they would apportion the losses that the league is expecting to endure as a result of playing two truncated seasons without the full economic benefit of allowing fans in the building.

Fortunately, any conflicts related to that have been smoothed over; the NBA and NBPA released a joint statement on Monday announcing that they’ve settled their differences and will present them to the league’s Board of Governors for formal ratification. That ratification is a mere formality, and now, we can rest assured that the 2020-21 season will begin on Dec. 22. Training camps will begin on Dec. 1.

In addition, here are some other important facts, some of which have recently been finalized:

  • The 2020 NBA Draft is scheduled for Nov. 18;
  • Teams can begin negotiating with free agents at 6:00 p.m. ET on Nov. 20;
  • Teams can begin signing free agents on Nov. 22 at 12:01 p.m. ET;
  • The salary cap for the 2020-21 season is $109.14 million, while the luxury tax threshold is $132.62 million;
  • Each team will play 72 games.

While there have been reports that the truncated 2020-21 season could feature a play-in tournament between the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th-seeded teams in each conference, the release announcing the changes didn’t mention it.

With respect to the Thunder, the team is still looking for a head coach, still believed to be pursuing trades of its veterans and have been thought to be a potential destination for LaMelo Ball.

Somehow, the NBA continues to be the gift that keeps giving.

Let’s begin: NBA players union approves December start to 2020-21 season

The NBA players union voted to approve the Dec. 22 start to the 2020-21 basketball season.

It’s all but stamped and sealed: Tipoff for the 2020-21 NBA season is less than two months away.

The National Basketball Players Association voted Wednesday to approve the plan of a Dec. 22 start of a 72-game season, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Financial negotiations with the CBA will continue into next week, according to Wojnarowski.

With this start date, the season will end in mid-May and the Finals can be expected to conclude around July 21, right before the Summer Olympics begin.

The league believes that starting the season in December, which will allow the NBA to make its Christmas money and avoid clashing with the Olympics, can save the leave between $500 million to $1 billion in revenue, according to ESPN.

The players had debated delaying the start of the season for another month to begin around Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is Jan. 18.

A typical offseason for non-playoff teams is mid-April through mid-October, while Finals teams would go from mid-June to mid-October. Bubble teams this season have anywhere from a two to four month break, about half the normal offseason.

The revenue understanding won out.

There is expected to be a 17% to 18% withholding of player salaries in escrow over the next two seasons with the expectation that the loss of usual ticket sales and gate receipts, which make up about 40% of revenue, will severely impact league income. Charania reported that the league hopes to decrease the amount held in escrow to 10%, the usual amount, in three seasons.

The salary cap is expected to remain at $109 million this coming season, according to Charania.

Free agency may be moved up to make it easier for teams to put together their rosters by the time training camp begins on Dec. 1, Wojnarowski tweeted.

The NBA draft is scheduled to take place Nov. 18.

And from there, the country has a clear sight to the start of the NBA season: Dec. 22.

Here are details of the Dec. 22 restart plan NBPA expected to approve

On Thursday, the NBPA is expected to approve a proposal that would have them report to camp on Dec. 1.

After the NBA and its players’ union had separate discussions with their constituencies over the past few days, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the entities will hold separate calls on Thursday with the likely result being an agreement for the NBA to tip-off the 2020-21 season on Dec. 22.

The initial reporting of the NBA owners’ wishes to begin the season in December came as a surprise since Commissioner Adam Silver let it be known that the league’s priority was to have fans in its stands next season. If that meant that delaying the season’s beginning until sometime in February or March, the prevailing belief was that such a scenario was in play.

Things changed, however, as the country began experiencing a second wave of coronavirus infections. That, as well as the preference of the league’s television partners, led the league to conclude that its best interests would be served by beginning its season sooner rather than later.

From Wojnarowski:

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the board of governors are awaiting a formal acceptance on the Dec. 22 date…

The league believes that a Dec. 22 start that includes Christmas Day games on television and allows for a 72-game schedule that finishes before the Summer Olympics in mid-July is worth between $500 million and $1 billion in short- and long-term revenues to the league and players, sources said.

Earlier this week, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported some of the details of the proposed calendar. Teams will be traveling but will have reductions in the number of miles and trips they take. The league will also limit back-to-back games for each team in order to make the task of playing 72 games in five months easier from a physical standpoint.

Other details of the 2020-21 season proposal are as follows;

  • Teams will report for training camps on Dec. 1
  • A 72-game regular season will tip-off on Dec. 22
  • The playoffs are expected to begin somewhere around May 22 and conclude by July 22.
  • The final two playoff seeds in each conference will be determined by a play-in tournament which will feature the seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th seeds.

With respect to the play-in tournament to determine the final two playoff seeds, the competition is expected to follow the same rules and format as the play-in game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies we witnessed this past season. If the teams are within a certain number of games in the standings, the seventh and 10th seeds and eighth and ninth seeds will be crossmatched with the lower seed needing to defeat the higher seed two consecutive times in order to qualify for the postseason.

For the Heat and Lakers specifically, the thought of reporting for training camp in just a few weeks isn’t ideal considering the fact that it feels like the 2020 NBA Finals concluded just yesterday.

Nonetheless, for the betterment of the league as a whole, the 2020-21 campaign is expected to begin on Dec. 22, with that likely becoming official on Thursday.

Report: NBA players expected to approve of December 22 start to season

The NBA is expected to begin on December 22 after the players vote on the plan.

The NBA finished up the 2019-20 season in the biggest challenge anybody has ever faced. They were able to complete the season in the midst of a global pandemic as well as a huge civil rights movement and they still face those similar challenges for the upcoming season.

In a normal time, the league would just now be beginning the new season and everyone would be on the floor beginning their quest for a title. Instead, the players and the Board of Governors are still negotiating what to do with the 2020-21 season.

There was talk of the season starting on Martin Luther King Day, but the league would much rather start in December and have games on Christmas Day to try and make up for lost revenue. After initial pushback by some players on the December start after the season finished up on October 11, it now appears that the players have changed their stance.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski writes that the players are expected to approve of a 72-game season beginning on December 22 on Thursday night:

The NBPA is planning to take a formal vote of the team player representatives on late Thursday, and sources tell ESPN everything is progressing toward an agreement on a pre-Christmas start to the season. The NBPA is holding team conference calls this week, including several on Wednesday, that detailed discussions with the league on a salary escrow for players in the range of 18% for the next two years, sources told ESPN.

Sources say the teams representatives are expected to approve the agreement.

With the season beginning in December, it will allow the league to finish up before the Olympics in July. The pre-Christmas start also allows the league to come up with some of the revenue that was lost due to the pandemic and the fact that fans won’t be allowed in arenas initially.

Wojnarowski added:

The league believes that a Dec. 22 start that includes Christmas Day games on television and allows for a 72-game schedule that finishes before the Summer Olympics in mid-July is worth between $500 million and $1 billion in short- and long-term revenues to the league and players, sources said.

For the Philadelphia 76ers, this means that they will likely get a Christmas Day game to their popularity and the fact that fans want to watch Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons perform under new coach Doc Rivers. This will all be so interesting to see how it all works out going forward. [lawrence-related id=38840,38834,38828]

Report: Some NBA players believe Dec. 22 season start is ‘inevitable’

We might all be watching NBA basketball on Christmas Day.

It turns out that we may be getting NBA basketball back much sooner than anyone could have imagined.

As it stands, the league’s owners have let it be known that they, along with their TV partners, have a strong preference to begin the 2020-21 season on Dec. 22. The players, understandably so, have reportedly sought to have the season begin on or around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Jan. 18, 2021.

While the December tip-off would result in a dramatically short offseason for the league, the sentiment from the commissioner’s office is that doing so would be in the best long-term financial interest of the Association.

Nonetheless, there hasn’t been a tremendous amount of support for the idea, with NBPA executive director Michele Roberts going on the record to let it be known that her constituents weren’t thrilled with the prospect.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, however, the players will convene for a vote later this week and it seems that a rather large contingent of them believe that they will end up tipping off the season on Dec. 22.

The NBPA, led by executive director Michele Roberts, started formal conference calls with players from all 30 teams this week. Players have been holding calls with the NBPA beginning Monday and will go through Thursday morning. Players coming out of several meetings believe a Dec. 22 start is inevitable, sources said.

If that is indeed the case, the league’s proposal would have the playoffs be scheduled for the two months spanning May 22 to July 22. That would allow the league to complete its season before the Tokyo Olympics begin on July 23 and avoid competing with Major League Baseball’s playoffs or the NFL. It would also serve the important function of allowing the 2021-22 season to return to a normal NBA schedule with the regular season beginning in mid-October and the playoffs concluding in mid-June.