After a significant layoff due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA is set to resume the 2019-20 season. On a conference call on Thursday, the NBA’s Board of Governors approved Commissioner Adam Silver’s 22-team return format.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the vote to restart the season with 22 teams was approved 29-1.
Source: 29-1 vote https://t.co/NT87g6EENp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020
Starting July 31, the league will send 22 teams to Orlando, Florida to play eight regular-season games to determine playoff seeding prior to heading into the postseason.
With a league-worst 15-50 record, the Golden State Warriors will be one of eight teams to not partake in the NBA’s return plan. Golden State’s 131-107 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers will go down as the final game of an unprecedented debut season in San Francisco’s Chase Center.
With Golden State’s season over, Bob Myers and Steve Kerr can turn their full attention to the NBA Draft. After ending the year with a bottom record, the Warriors are locked in for a top-five pick in the 2020 draft. According to Tankathon.com, the Warriors have a 14% chance to land the top pick and a 52.1% chance to stick in the top-four.
Golden State will now have an idea of where they’ll pick in the top-five with a new date for the Lottery set in place. With the Board of Governors vote, new dates have been settled for the NBA Draft Lottery and the Draft.
According to Wojnarowski, the Lottery will take place on Aug. 25 with the Draft following on Oct. 15. Free Agency is set to begin just days after the draft on Oct. 18.
Target NBA schedule from '19-'20 to '20-'21 season
∙ Training camp – July 9-11
∙ '19-'20 season – July 31-Oct. 12
∙ Draft lottery – Aug. 25
∙ NBA Draft – Oct. 15
∙ Free agency – Oct. 18
∙ '20-'21 training camp – Nov. 10
∙ '20-'21 season start – Dec. 1(via @wojespn) pic.twitter.com/H1C8N60DKn
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 4, 2020
While 22-teams battle it out in Orlando, Golden State will get a jumpstart on a unique edition of the offseason.
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