NBA Teams Hoping to Delay 2020 Draft Until August

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in 2017
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in 2017. Photo by Kristina Bumphrey/StarPix/REX/Shutterstock (8880940bs)

While the NFL is going with its draft as planned by embracing virtual form, NBA teams are hoping that their league will take a different approach.

According to ESPN, a significant number of NBA teams are making efforts to convince the league to delay the 2020 draft, which is scheduled to take place on June 25th. The teams are reportedly pushing for an August date instead.

There are multiple reasons for why teams are interested in delaying the 2020 NBA Draft. According to current league guidelines during coronavirus pandemic, the organizations can’t have in-person workouts or interviews with draft prospects. The ongoing health crisis also makes medical evaluations of the players a lot more complicated.

Team executives are anticipating that an August draft will give NBA more time to access the situation and potentially make the guidelines less strict. In this case, the organizations would be able to maintain some of the most crucial elements of the NBA Draft process.

It remains unclear, however, whether the league is entertaining this possibility.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver recently stated that the league won’t make any decisions on the future of 2019/20 season until May. If the season resumes next month, then there is probably a big chance that the NBA follows NFL’s example and sticks with the original date. If that isn’t the case, then delaying the draft will definitely become an option.

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