The NBA draft usually takes place in late June, but due to the coronavirus pandemic it was tentatively pushed back to October. But now reportedly may take place in November. Here’s the Bay Area News Group reporting:
The Warriors will have to wait to make the No. 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft, as the league plans to delay the current Oct. 16 date by as much as a month.
Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the NBA informed teams Wednesday that the draft will be pushed back, potentially to Nov. 18, though negotiations between the league and Players’ Association are ongoing. A decision could be made as soon as this week.
Pushing the date of the draft back from Oct. 16 allows the league more time to hold a virtual combine, and for teams to gather crucial information on this draft class. It also allows the NBA to formulate a potential start date for next season — which Commissioner Adam Silver said won’t be Dec. 1 as initially intended after the league went on hiatus — and for the NBA and NBAPA to negotiate a new salary cap for 2020-21.
A guess is that the 2020-21 NBA regular season may start in late December, but we won’t be surprised at all if it tips off a bit later.
But, there’s no reason to think too much about that right now. We’re in the playoffs. The Eastern conference No. 1 seed Bucks got eliminated yesterday. And the Raptors are playing a must-win game against the Celtics in a few hours. Enjoy the action.
