What’s Next For NBA As Offseason Begins
The 2019/20 NBA season – the longest in league history – finally came to an end on Sunday night, with the Lakers completing a 4-2 Finals win over the Heat. The last game of the season came nearly one full year after the regular season opener tipped off on October 22, 2019, and 468 days after the ’19/20 league year officially got underway on July 1, 2019.
The coronavirus pandemic, of course, dictated the unusual terms of the NBA’s stretch run, but after pausing its season for several months, the league was able to work around the situation admirably.
From the time that teams began to arrive at the “bubble” at Walt Disney World on July 7 through the end of the NBA Finals, only two players tested positive for COVID-19 — and both of those cases were diagnosed during the initial quarantine period in July, before players were free to move about the Disney campus. For the past three months, there have been no coronavirus cases among NBA players in Orlando.
While the NBA pulled off the bubble experiment with aplomb, there’s no time for the league or the players’ union to sit back and celebrate their accomplishments. The two sides must now focus on renegotiating aspects of the Collective Bargaining Agreement in preparation for what will be an unusual offseason.
Typically, an offseason’s key dates and deadlines are established months in advance. However, most of the NBA’s 2020 offseason dates remain up in the air. The 2020 draft has been set for November 18, but it remains unclear when free agency will begin and when option decision dates, salary guarantee deadlines, and trade exception expiration dates will occur.
[RELATED: Michele Roberts expects free agency period to start no later than December 1]
In a normal league year, a team can begin making trades once their season is over, so all 30 teams are free to make deals once the NBA Finals conclude. This time around, a transaction moratorium remains in place, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
The NBA and NBPA, who will have to negotiate new salary cap and luxury tax figures for the 2020/21 season, along with several other financial and logistical details for the coming season, will also be responsible for determining when that moratorium will end. When it does, trade season can begin in earnest.
Even once the two sides agree to new dates for free agency and other aspects of the offseason, we don’t have a clear sense of exactly how long the offseason will last. The start date for the 2020/21 season is still unknown, with both Adam Silver and Michele Roberts having confirmed that it will almost certainly land sometime in the new year.
The NBA and NBPA would both like to see fans back in arenas by the time next season tips off, so they’re willing to be patient to see if ongoing advancements in coronavirus testing and treatment will make that possible. Although all parties would like to get next season underway in January, it’s entirely possible that target date will be pushed back to February or March.
We’re still more than five weeks away from draft day, but I expect it won’t be too long before we start hearing updates on the negotiations between the league and the union and a potential timeline for free agency. Stay tuned to Hoops Rumors for all the latest news.
And-Ones: Restart Changes, Mayo, College Scouts
Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel applauds several of the league innovations introduced during the NBA’s summer restart on the Orlando Disney World campus.
Winderman has special praise for the play-in game option ahead of the playoffs between the eighth and ninth seeds of either conference, if they are within four games of each other. He also cites the league’s wider court layouts and sideline buffers as excellent innovations. Winderman hopes to see these changes for the NBA restart permanently implemented ahead of the 2020/21 season.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Shooting guard O.J. Mayo will remain in the Chinese Basketball Association for the 2020/21 season, according to Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Mayo will re-sign with Liaoning, for whom he averaged 28 PPG, 6 RPG, 3 APG and 2 SPG. The 32-year-old, drafted with the third pick in 2008 by Memphis, spent eight years in the NBA, playing for the Grizzlies, Mavericks, and Bucks. Mayo was suspended in 2016 for two years after violating the NBA’s Anti-Drug Program.
- Due to the coronavirus pandemic, NBA college scouts will not be permitted in team practices during the 2020/21 season, per Adam Zagoria of Forbes.com. Additionally, scouts will only be allowed into games that the general public can also view in-person. NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Kiki Vandeweghe alerted league personnel to these developments in an email today.
- As we previously mentioned, recently retired eight-time All-Star Vince Carter was gifted with the 2019/20 NBA Sportsmanship Award.
And-Ones: Pekovic, Georges-Hunt, Scouting, Monroe
Family members have refuted a report that former Timberwolves center Nikola Pekovic was in serious condition after contracting COVID-19, Nikola Lupo of Sportando relays.
The Serbian website Telegraf indicated that Pekovic was in intensive care at a hospital in Podgorica, Montenegro and required a ventilator to breathe. Pekovic’s family said he’s in stable condition and breathing independently without a respirator.
Minnesota waived Pekovic in 2017 after several injury-riddled seasons. Pekovic played 271 games for the Timberwolves, averaging 12.6 PPG and 6.7 RPG.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Marcus Georges-Hunt is signing with the Jiangsu Dragons of the CBA, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports. Georges-Hunt also spent last season in China with Guangzhou, averaging 24.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG and 3.6 APG. He lasted appeared in the NBA with the Timberwolves during the 2017/18 season, when he came off the bench in 42 games.
- NBA teams will be allowed to scout college games during the upcoming season that are open to the general public but won’t be permitted to attend practices, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The restrictions are a safety precaution due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The college basketball is scheduled to begin in late November during Thanksgiving week.
- Former NBA center Greg Monroe, who is now playing for BC Khimki Moscow, has tested negative for COVID-19 after a positive test on Friday, Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas tweets. Monroe signed with the Russian team after spending last season in Germany after appearing in 632 NBA games with six teams.
Michele Roberts Talks Free Agency, 2020/21 Season, Cap, More
Having rescheduled this year’s draft for November 18, the NBA has yet to officially set a start date for 2020’s free agent period. Speaking to Shams Charania of The Athletic, NBPA executive director Michele Roberts suggested that she thinks free agency will probably start no later than December 1 and that the salary cap and tax figures won’t drop too drastically from what was originally projected.
“We can’t go much beyond (December 1) for (free agency),” Roberts said. “We had a projected BRI (basketball-related income), which I think teams appropriately planned for. I don’t think we can deviate much from where we projected the cap to be.
“It may not reflect what people think is the likely BRI, but since I’m of the view this game is not dead and it will rebound, we can do some things with the cap to allow for a free market and not completely destroy what the teams were expecting the cap to be as they were planning ahead. Frankly, I think that’s going to be one of the easier negotiations, figuring out a cap.”
As Charania writes, Roberts met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Sunday, and the two sides left that meeting confident that they’ll be able to negotiate agreements on the many cap- and CBA-related issues that must be resolved before the new league year and the 2020/21 season begin.
“It’s amazing what needs to be accomplished in the next six weeks, but it has to be done. I feel sooner rather than later,” Roberts said, adding that she doesn’t believe there’s any real chance of a lockout. “… We’re going to resolve this.”
Charania’s Q&A with Roberts is jam-packed with interesting info and quotes, and is worth checking out in full if you’re an Athletic subscriber. Here are a few more of the most notable takeaways from the conversation:
- Roberts still views January as the “absolute earliest” possible start date for the 2020/21 season. “The latter part of January, February makes sense,” she told Charania. “If it’s later than that, if we have a terrible winter because the virus decides to reassert herself, that’s fine.”
- Although Roberts and the NBPA share the NBA’s hope that teams can play a full 82-game season in their respective home arenas in 2020/21, she told Charania that the two sides must be “flexible” and “nimble” as it makes plans for next season. “I’m not of the view that we should wait until we think the arenas can open, because this virus, she’s not cooperative at all,” Roberts said.
- Silver has expressed some reluctance to change the NBA’s permanent calendar as a result of the COVID-related delays, but Roberts sounds more open to that possibility. “Even before COVID happened, there was a conversation about starting our season later. Why compete with football in the fall? Why don’t we start our season around Christmas?” Roberts said to Charania. “It may very well be that our regular schedule is going to change, not so much because of COVID, but because of the ability to experiment. I wouldn’t bet on returning to the old normal.”
- Faced with the possibility of the NBA’s basketball-related income for next season dipping from $8 billion to something like $6 billion, Roberts acknowledged that maintaining the 51/49 split between players and owners will be tricky. “It comes down to if it’s a $6 billion pie and our owners are entitled to 49%, and they’re already committed to $5 billion in player salaries and fixed costs for example, where’s the rest of their money?” she said. “There’s ways to take that $6 billion and get to their 49%. One of the ways to do it is to slash player salaries. I got to deal with a constituency that, you slash their salaries, this may be for many of my guys on the last two or three years of their careers. Is there a way to deal with that?”
- Here’s more from Roberts to Charania on the issue of the BRI split: “We’ll never say to the owners: ‘Y’all just going to have to eat the loss.’ Who’s going to do that? They’re not stupid. They’re not just going to say, ‘OK, yeah you’re right, we’re just going to have to lose a couple billion dollars on our own.’ That’s not going to happen. Instead what you say is, ‘Can we figure out a way to manage that so there is no loss, but there isn’t an immediate pay day. Can you withstand some delay in getting your money?’ I have some real life examples of people I know in my life that say that they live paycheck-to-paycheck. And there are other people that can say that they can deal with deferred compensation. You figure it out.”
And-Ones: Disney, 2020/21, AD Trade, Community Assist Awards
While appearing on NBA TV last week, league commissioner Adam Silver stressed that, though no player on the league’s restart campus in Orlando has tested positive for COVID-19 since July, the coronavirus remains a danger to the NBA’s remaining Disney World inhabitants.
“Nobody’s tested positive who lives on this campus, but we’ve had positive tests in our vicinity,” Silver said, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link). “Every night … I am sort of (braced) for that call to say, ‘We have an issue.'”
There’s more from around the NBA:
- In a conversation with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols (video link) prior to last night’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals, Silver remarked that there’s no set deadline that the 2020/21 regular season must start by. “We love our fans and we want to bring them back into the arenas and we want to do it safely,” Silver said. “And so if there are advancements right on the horizon (related to coronavirus testing or treatment), that will be a reason to wait.”
- ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wonders if the blockbuster summer trade that landed Anthony Davis in Los Angeles may wind up ultimately benefiting both the Lakers and their trade partner, the Pelicans. The move gifted the Pelicans with a treasure trove of draft picks, plus 2020 All-Star Brandon Ingram and intriguing young guards Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart. Pelton notes that the Lakers will be in good position to retain the role players that have helped bring Davis and All-Star teammate LeBron James within two games of the Lakers’ 17th NBA title.
- The NBA has announced its 2019/20 Community Assistant award winners. All-Star Thunder point guard Chris Paul is joined by Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, Kings forward Harrison Barnes, Bucks point guard George Hill, and Mavericks big man Dwight Powell. The award honors players who have made significant community impacts in the arenas of social justice and COVID-19 help this season. The NBA and Kaiser Permanente will donate $10K to a charity of choice for each of these five players.
Adam Silver Talks 2020/21 Season, CBA Negotiations, More
Addressing reporters on Wednesday before the 2020 NBA Finals got underway, commissioner Adam Silver reiterated that the league’s goal for the start of the 2020/21 regular season is to get fans back in arenas, according to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press and Mark Medina of USA Today. While it may not be realistic to expect sell-out crowds, especially if no coronavirus vaccine has been approved, Silver is hopeful that the introduction of rapid COVID-19 testing will help matters.
“Based on everything I’ve read, there’s almost no chance that there will be a vaccine at least that is widely distributed at least before we start the next season. I do not see the development of a vaccine as a prerequisite,” Silver said, per Medina. “My sense with rapid testing is we may not have 19,000 people in the building. We’ll see. But that, with appropriate protocols in terms of distancing and with advanced testing, you will be able to bring fans back into the arenas.
“… The question is will there be truly rapid tests, point-of-care testing that don’t get sent to the lab? Are there instant results? There are lot of pharmaceutical companies focused on that. There’s a marketplace for that.”
Both Silver and NBPA executive director Michele Roberts stressed that their preference is not to repeat the bubble or mini-bubble experience for the 2020/21 season, despite its success in Orlando this summer.
“Do I want to do it again? Not if I can avoid it,” Roberts said, per Reynolds. “Those are my marching orders: Not if we can avoid it. Now, having said that, the players want to make sure we can save our season again.”
Silver’s state-of-the-league address touched on a handful of other topics. Here are some of the highlights from the NBA’s commissioner:
On the start date for the 2020/21 season:
Silver recently acknowledged that the ’20/21 season is unlikely to start until sometime in the new year, but on Wednesday he didn’t entirely close the door on a Christmas Day start, even while admitting that it’s unlikely.
“The earliest we would start is Christmas. That’s been a traditional tent-pole day for the league; but it may come and go,” Silver said, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “Probably the greater likelihood is we start in January.”
As Silver pointed out, the 2019/20 campaign has been the longest season in NBA history and many players who participated in the summer restart in Orlando were continuously training through the hiatus, meaning they’re not necessarily eager for a quick turnaround to training camps.
“The Finals will end in roughly mid-October, and they need a break physically and mentally,” Silver said, per Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “There’s no question about that.”
Silver was also asked about the possibility of shifting the NBA’s schedule further into the summer on a permanent basis, but downplayed the idea that the league is seriously considering that possibility, suggesting that many players want “some normalcy in the summer” and adding that “fewer people are watching television in the summer,” as ESPN’s Tim Bontemps details.
On negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreement adjustments with the NBPA:
The NBA has yet to set dates for free agency, figures for the 2020/21 salary cap, or a calendar for next season. It will need to negotiate those issues – and many others – with the players’ union before finalizing anything. However, Silver didn’t sound concerned about the two sides’ ability to work things out.
“There’s no doubt there are issues on the table that need to be negotiated,” Silver said, according to Vardon. “I think it’s — we’ve managed to work through every other issue so far. I think we have a constructive relationship with (the NBPA). We share all information. We look at our various business models together. So I think while no doubt there will be issues and there will be some difficult negotiations ahead, I fully expect we’ll work them out, as we always have.”
Silver indicated that serious negotiations on the necessary changes likely won’t begin until after the Finals are complete, but reiterated that he doesn’t believe there will be any labor issues.
“I think we all understand the essential parameters,” Silver said.
On the number of Black head coaches in the NBA:
In the wake of racial and social justice protests this summer, the number of Black head coaches in the NBA has shrunk, with Doc Rivers, Nate McMillan, and Alvin Gentry losing their jobs while interim Nets coach Jacque Vaughn was also replaced. According to Bontemps, there are just four Black head coaches left in the NBA for now: J.B. Bickerstaff, Lloyd Pierce, Monty Williams, and Dwane Casey.
Given the NBA’s increased awareness of the importance of diversity in hiring, Silver said the league is encouraging teams with coaching openings to consider a wide range of candidates. However, he said the league office won’t dictate who teams should hire and doesn’t believe the NBA requires a rule similar to the NFL’s “Rooney Rule,” mandating a certain number of interviews with minority candidates.
“We’ve looked at what might be an equivalent to a Rooney-type rule in the NBA, and I’m not sure it makes sense,” Silver said, per ESPN. “I’m open-minded if there are other ways to address it. There is a certain natural ebb and flow to the hiring and firing, frankly, of coaches, but the number is too low right now. And again, I think we should — let’s talk again after we fill these six positions and see where we are, because I know we can do better, and I think we will do better.”
On whether traveling to and from Canada will be possible for the Raptors and other NBA teams in 2020/21:
Since the ’19/20 campaign was completed in Orlando, international travel hasn’t been an issue for NBA franchises. However, if teams return to their respective home arenas for next season, that will be an important factor to take into account for the Raptors and their opponents, since Canada’s federal government has closed its border with the U.S. to non-essential travelers.
Toronto’s MLB team, the Blue Jays, didn’t receive approval from the Canadian government to play in Toronto during the 2020 season and was forced to instead play home games across the border in Buffalo. Silver admitted that he’s unsure what the plans would be for the Raptors, observing that the decision will be somewhat out of the NBA’s hands.
“Obviously it’s one of those things that’s going to be outside of our control,” Silver said, according to Bontemps. “I know (Raptors owner) Larry (Tanenbaum) has had ongoing conversations, as has (president of basketball operations) Masai Ujiri, with government officials in Canada to see how they’re going to be looking at things this fall, but it’s just too early to know. But we will obviously have to work with whatever rules we’re presented with there.”
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Kings Part Ways With G League GM Anthony McClish
Due to the ongoing financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Kings have eliminated a number of positions in their basketball operations department, Sean Cunningham of ABC10 Sacramento reports (via Twitter). Among the casualties is Anthony McClish, general manager of the Stockton Kings, Sacramento’s G League affiliate.
The Kings have elected not to renew McClish’s contract, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, who notes that the veteran executive spent seven seasons with the franchise in a handful of roles, including cap management and scouting.
While Sacramento didn’t officially announce McClish’s departure from the organization, the club did issue a statement confirming that changes are being made in the front office, as Jason Jones of The Athletic relays:
“Yesterday, a handful of full-time positions across the basketball operations departments of the Sacramento Kings and Stockton Kings were eliminated due to the ongoing impacts of the pandemic and a reorganization of the team’s basketball operations structure,” the club said.
Despite the cuts, league sources tell Cunningham (Twitter link) that essential basketball operation functions haven’t been affected as the Kings prepare for the draft and free agency under new general manager Monte McNair.
And-Ones: Roberts, China, Coronavirus, Gibson
NBPA executive director Michele Roberts turned down a seven-figure annual bonus earlier this year, a source tells Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic. As Kaplan explains, Roberts’ total compensation during the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2020 amounted to $1.47MM, down $2.85MM from the year before. Kaplan hears that Roberts’ base salary wasn’t reduced and that the difference was a result of her forgoing a bonus.
Roberts is one of a number of notable basketball executives whose earnings were affected by the coronavirus pandemic. NBA commissioner Adam Silver and about 100 of the league’s top executives accepted pay cuts of 20%, Kaplan notes.
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- From the conflict with China to the deaths of Kobe Bryant and David Stern to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2019/20 NBA season has been one of the most turbulent in league history. With the help of a few players, Scott Cacciola of The New York Times takes a look back at a very strange NBA year.
- In his own NBA year in review, ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz cites sources who estimate that the league’s potential losses as a result of the China conflict will amount to at least $200MM.
- Appearing today on CNBC (video link), Nets owner Joseph Tsai expressed optimism about the NBA’s future, indicating that COVID-19 rapid testing and – eventually – a vaccine will allow fans to eventually return to arenas. “Next season is going to be a little bit tricky, because we don’t anticipate having a lot of fans or having full buildings into the arena anytime soon,” Tsai said. “But guess what? The following season, 2022, 2023, we look for a very nice rebound.”
- Former Mavericks and Celtics guard Jonathan Gibson is signing with the Beijing Ducks, a source tells Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Gibson, who appeared in 21 NBA games between 2016-18, spent most of last season with another Chinese team, the Jiangsu Dragons.
And-Ones: Olympics, Playoff Pay, Coronavirus, J. Young
With the start and end dates for the 2020/21 NBA season still very much up in the air, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo is having a hard time planning for next year’s Olympics in Tokyo, as Chris Sheridan of BasketballNews.com writes. Colangelo tells Sheridan that Lakers forward LeBron James and other U.S. stars have conveyed interest in participating in those Olympics, but haven’t been able to commit to anything due to the uncertainty of the schedule.
“I was told the NBA season would start in December, and then it was Christmas, and then after January 1, and that keeps pushing the schedule for me,” Colangelo said. “The NBA season typically takes 170 or 171 days to complete, so that creates a conflict on paper.”
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to begin on July 23, with qualifying tournaments for the final four spots in the men’s tournament set to tip off on June 29. If the ’20/21 season runs deep into the summer again, it will compromise the availability of NBA players for Team USA and other countries, but Colangelo remains hopeful that many of those players will be able to participate.
“If the (NBA) season conflicts with the Olympics, I might have 14 non-playoff teams to choose from, but then other players will become available as the NBA playoffs progress,” Colangelo told Sheridan. “The problem is that the ICO has a rule mandating an early submission of a 12-man roster. But with a pandemic, the hope would be that you’ve got to set aside outdated rules. I assume people will be reasonable and come up with some kind of a program that works.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The winner of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and Heat will earn $5,791,041 of this year’s league-wide playoff pool money, notes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. The losing team will divvy up a $4,399,686 share.
- The NBA, which is hoping to play games in teams’ home arenas during the 2020/21 season, sent a 32-page manual to clubs outlining the cleaning and disinfecting protocols to “reset” those arenas, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Former Pacers guard Joe Young is returning to the Chinese Basketball Association for the 2020/21 season, signing a deal with the Beijing Royal Fighers, as Nicola Lupo of Sportando relays. After spending three seasons in Indiana from 2015-18, Young has played for the Nanjing Monkey King in China for the last two years.
Silver Acknowledges Next Season Unlikely To Start Until 2021
Echoing a sentiment expressed earlier this month by NBPA executive director Michele Roberts, NBA commissioner Adam Silver told CNN’s Bob Costas today that his “best guess” is that the league’s next season won’t begin until sometime in 2021 (Twitter link via Mark Medina of USA Today).
The NBA previously informed its Board of Governors that December 25 would be the earliest possible start date for the 2020/21 season. Christmas Day typically features an impressive slate of games that showcase many of the league’s best teams, making it a logical option for opening day. However, with the coronavirus pandemic still complicating plans to get fans back into arenas, another delay seems likely.
As Medina relays, Silver also said on CNN today that the NBA’s goal is still to play a “standard” 82-game schedule next season, preferably in teams’ home arenas in front of fans. It remains to be seen whether that will be possible though.
Even if the NBA is able to play a full 82-game season, starting it in January would ensure it runs far beyond the league’s typical end date, complicating the NBA’s ability to send players and coaches to the Tokyo Olympics, which are set to begin on July 23. There’s also no guarantee that 2020/21’s opening night won’t be postponed until February or March, a possibility that has been recently voiced by reporters and players alike.
For now, the NBA is focused on safely completing its 2019/20 season, which will conclude within about three weeks.