It should be no surprise that the 2020 NBA Draft, originally scheduled on June 25, will be moved to a later date as foretold by the league's decision to postpone the Draft Lottery and Combine until further notice. It appeared now that these important league events will be rescheduled, again due to the COVID-19 spread that remains out of control.
As the NBA prepares to restart the season, the league's board of governors has reportedly decided to hold the draft in September, which is said to be the earliest option for the league. That means there could be further delays depending on the circumstances to emerge in the weeks to come, such as the inability to stage the games again by mid-July.
And speaking of July, that should be the month for year's free agency market to roll, which NBC Sports said would be earlier than usual. In the past, the draft happens first before NBA teams are given the time to fill up remaining vacancies on their roster by picking from the lot of free agents.
This pushback was first reported by Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, as noted in the same report.
Pompey said the new timeline will be discussed with the NBPA, and there could be adjustments to be made depending on the outcome of the planned talks. The bottom line is that the players' association will need to approve the rescheduling before the NBA can finalize everything. As indicated, the new target dates will remain tentative.
According to Clutch Points, these highly anticipated NBA offseason events will only get underway once the meat of the details has been threshed out. The exact timing of this year's free agency, for instance, is best determined after the salary cap questions have been answered.
It is expected that the cap space this year that the pandemic dictated much on the NBA business will not be too spacious, but teams having a clear idea of what to operate on is crucial. On the other hand, the free agency coming ahead of the draft has its advantage as teams can mostly identify what their needs are and who to grab from the market to fill up these requirements.
Now going into the draft, the suspended basketball season in the United States should be a bane for front offices. In the absence of actual games to scout, teams will need to resorts on months-old tapes that obviously are devoid of the all-important currency factor.
In any case, teams can simply rely on the latest ratings on the pool of draft picks that supposedly counts LaMelo Ball as among the Top 5 picks.
