Recent development pointed to the NBA restarting soon and it could happen on July 15. That seemed the direction bared by the social media post from Brooklyn star Spencer Dinwiddie. If his tweet were to be believed, players will be called to team practice beginning on June 21, which likely is the case for the Nets.
Hopefully, the imminent return to action will apply for the rest of the league as hinted in numerous statements made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver. The timeline shared by Dinwiddie aligns with Silver's assessment that the decision to restart the season will be made in mid-June.
According to Sports Illustrated, the Nets returning to practice will give the team at least three weeks of sufficient preparation before taking up competitive play. It is deemed crucial that teams can work together after months of shutdown that forced the NBA to prohibit all activities that will gather people around.
Already, practice and training facilities have re-opened but league officials issued a strict reminder that group workouts will remain forbidden. Teams, where the lockdown rules have been eased down, are encouraged to resume training but only voluntarily.
The real action will commence as hinted by Dinwiddie in July and teams are expected to do team workouts for the first time after more than three months of inactivity. The NBA has halted the games last March when players started catching COVID-19.
Silver said that when the games resumed, players will be gathered to a centralized location that will be known as bubble city. This is to ensure that the health of all personnel involved in holding the games will be safeguarded.
The NBA said Orlando has emerged as the best option to host all the remaining games as the Walt Disney World in the city was deemed optimal to stage the games at minimal health risks. A two-city option remains in the cards and league officials are considering Las Vegas as another host city.
With the season restart appeared to be shaping up, the NBA calendar is pointing for the 2020 Finals to start in August with the season to wrap up in the same month. According to Clutch Points, the offseason will follow, and there likely will be draft picks and free agency market, the latter could take place in September.
All these things considered, the NBA could see the next season starting in December and the target date is Christmas Day. Even if the season will be delayed, league officials remain optimistic that all teams can play 82 games each for the entire campaign, the report added.
