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The NBA & NCAA Announce Dates Regarding Draft Related Events & Deadlines
The new early entry withdrawal deadline leaves little breathing room for roster building for college coaches.
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The NBA announced plans to not only resume their season but also created a concrete timeline to begin draft related events.
The world of sports has begun to try and start again in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought competition to a stop globally back in late March. So as some leagues resume competitive play around the world and others have closed up shop for their respective seasons, the NBA instead decided to release some exciting news this week that will effect the college basketball world to for next season.
On Thursday June 4th, the NBA announced a plan to restart the 2019-2020 season on July 31st in Orlando, FL with a vote of approval from the NBA board of governors. The decision was only controversial to one team (The Portland Trail Blazers) who voted against proposal, but when NBA basketball returns it will look a little different.
Aside from the rest of the season only being played at one site, the new twenty-two team format leaves out eight teams considered out of range for playoff contention, while including sixteen teams at the top of their conference standings and six teams within six games of a playoff berth.
Also announced were concrete dates surrounding the NBA Draft, which was scheduled to be held here in a few weeks before the pandemic hit.
The draft along with the coinciding scouting combine had been postponed with no news as to a possible rescheduling as we approach the onset of June. It seems now as the NBA’s focus was on restarting the current season, in a safe and strategic way before mentioning the draft in any way.
The first date to be rescheduled looks to be the draft lottery, moved from May 19th to August 25th. Followed by the Draft itself, moved from June 25th to October 15th, which should take place only a few days after the final draft order is set after a possible Game 7 taking place on as late as October 12th.
These announced changes coincide directly with the 2020-2021 college basketball season as the original draft early entrant withdrawal deadline of June 3rd came and went this week with no comment from the NCAA.
So after the NBA released their newly scheduled dates, the NCAA in turn announced a more vague withdrawal deadline of August 3rd or 10 days after the NBA Draft Combine, whichever comes first.
NCAA Senior Vice President for Basketball Dan Gavitt spoke to the decision, which was a a collaborative one between the Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
“This provides the utmost flexibility to student-athletes testing the waters to make the most informed decision about their future during this uncertain time,” NCAA Senior Vice President for Basketball Dan Gavitt said. “And by deciding before classes start for the fall semester, it also encourages student-athletes who choose to return to school to be fully engaged in their academic pursuits and the tremendous experience and opportunity to play college basketball.”
All things considered it is nice to finally have some clarity on the situation as well as some concrete dates to work around. It’s also nice to see some understanding and flexibility from the NCAA and it’s coaches regarding the new deadline. As a player’s stock and decision to return to school will be directly effected by their performance, evaluation and feedback from their attendance at the combine, not to mention failing to receive an invite in the first place.
But in the eyes of coaching staffs everywhere, this puts them in a tough place come August. As most programs would like to have a concrete idea of what their roster will look like on opening night by the start of summer workouts. They are now stuck waiting for potential draft prospects to make a decision based on the scouting combine, which new dates for the event haven’t been announced yet, as it may not happen as another possible casualty to the current times.
Still, this is a win for the players who now have more time to make an informed decision with the possibility of returning to school in the fall later than every other draft class in history.
For an update on the current draft stock of Mountain West prospects, check out this week’s update.
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