NCAA Sets New Early Entrant Withdrawal Deadline
After indefinitely postponing its June 3 withdrawal deadline for early entrants, the NCAA announced today that it has established a new deadline. Early entrants will have until either August 3 or 10 days after the NBA draft combine (whichever comes first) to withdraw their names while maintaining their college eligibility.
“This provides the utmost flexibility to student-athletes testing the waters to make the most informed decision about their future during this uncertain time,” NCAA senior VP for basketball Dan Gavitt said in a statement. “And by deciding before classes start for the fall semester, it also encourages student-athletes who choose to return to school to be fully engaged in their academic pursuits and the tremendous experience and opportunity to play college basketball.”
[RELATED: 2020 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]
The NBA announced today that it has rescheduled its 2020 draft lottery for August 25. Typically, the combine takes place shortly after the lottery, but it’s not clear if or when it will happen this year. The coronavirus pandemic has made it virtually impossible for the league to hold a traditional combine, which would feature workouts, scrimmages, interviews, and medical tests.
Since it’s extremely unlikely that a combine will be held next month, it seems safe to assume that August 3 will end up being the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline. Most players are unlikely to wait that long to make their decisions, however, as college programs work toward setting their rosters for the 2020/21 season.
As Jonathan Givony of ESPN observes (via Twitter), the NCAA’s decision isn’t great news for players that want the opportunity to potentially participate in an August or September combine. Many players could end up keeping their names in the draft despite being unlikely to be selected, Givony notes.
While the NCAA’s withdrawal deadline for early entrants will be August 3 at the latest, I’d expect the NBA’s to land on October 5. Traditionally, it falls 10 days before the draft, and the 2020 draft has been rescheduled to October 15.
The NBA’s withdrawal deadline typically applies to international players who don’t have to worry about losing NCAA eligibility. However, again, I wouldn’t expect many of those international players to wait until the fall to make their decisions, since most European leagues remain on track to start their 2020/21 seasons at that time.
Buffalo guard Jayvon Graves and Croatian forward Darko Bajo are among the latest early entrants to pull out of this year’s draft, according to tweets from Jeff Goodman of Stadium and agent Misko Raznatovic, respectively.
NBA Confirms 22-Team Plan, Announces Lottery Details
The NBA has officially announced that its Board of Governors voted in favor of commissioner Adam Silver‘s recommendation to resume the season this summer with 22 teams in attendance, issuing a press release to confirm the news and offering several more details.
“The Board’s approval of the restart format is a necessary step toward resuming the NBA season,” said Silver said in a statement. “While the COVID-19 pandemic presents formidable challenges, we are hopeful of finishing the season in a safe and responsible manner based on strict protocols now being finalized with public health officials and medical experts. We also recognize that as we prepare to resume play, our society is reeling from recent tragedies of racial violence and injustice, and we will continue to work closely with our teams and players to use our collective resources and influence to address these issues in very real and concrete ways.”
Here are some of the details announced or confirmed by the league in today’s release:
- All of the dates we’ve heard within the last week, including a tentative start date of July 31, a draft date of October 15, and a 2020/21 start date of December 1, are accurate.
- As expected, once the playoffs begin, they’ll follow a traditional format — each series will be a best-of-seven, and the Eastern and Western Conference will be kept separate until the Finals.
- The draft lottery – rescheduled for August 25 – will be made up of the eight teams not involved in the league’s restart and the six teams that don’t make the postseason. Those teams’ lottery seeds and odds will be based on their records through March 11. So even if the Trail Blazers go 2-6 when play resumes and the Suns go 6-2, passing them in the standings, Phoenix will still have better lottery odds if neither team makes the playoffs.
- Note: Here’s what the odds will look like if the Grizzlies, Magic, and Nets hang onto their playoff spots.
- The rest of the draft order will be based on the 16 playoff teams’ combined records across regular season games and “seeding games,” which is what the league is calling the eight games being played this summer. For instance, the Heat (41-24) are currently projected to draft 23rd, but if they go 1-7 when play resumes, they’ll likely move up in the draft.
Additionally, while the NBA didn’t formally confirm these dates, Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links) says the league informed the Board of Governors of the following dates on today’s call:
- June 15: Players located internationally return to their team’s market.
- June 21: All players report to their team’s market.
- June 22: Coronavirus testing begins.
- June 30: Training camps begin.
- July 7: Players travel to Orlando.
It’s still not exactly clear what the schedule will look like between July 7-31. There may be some sort of quarantine period for players. Camps figured to be resumed, and Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press reports (via Twitter) that some exhibition games are expected to take place.
NBPA Schedules Friday Call To Approve Return-To-Play Plan
1:49pm: Now that the Board of Governors has voted in favor of the league’s return-to-play plan, the players’ union is next up. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that the NBPA’s team player representatives have a call set for Friday to approve the league’s plan for resuming the season.
11:03am: While the NBA’s Board of Governors is reportedly on the verge of approving Adam Silver‘s recommended plan for resuming the 2019/20 season, that’s just one important hurdle for the league to clear as it solidifies that plan.
The National Basketball Players Association will also need to formally approve any return-to-play plan, and Marc Stein of The New York Times tweets that the union has scheduled a Friday virtual meeting for its members to discuss the proposal.
Silver and the NBA have been working closely with NBPA president Chris Paul and the players’ union throughout the planning process, and the commissioner is believed to have already taken into account many of the players’ concerns. As such, I wouldn’t expect things to get contentious between the NBA and NBPA — it sounds like there’s a good chance the union will approve Silver’s proposal without significant pushback.
Still, players will want to receive assurances that the NBA is doing as much as it can to keep players healthy and safe amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A source tell Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press (Twitter link) that the league and the union are still working on a “lengthy” medical protocols document. It will be shared with teams once those discussions are completed, Reynolds adds.
As Bobby Marks of ESPN (Insider link) details, there will also be a number of other issues that the NBA and NBPA will need to collective bargain in order to formally move forward.
Besides navigating major financial issues like player salary reductions and the salary cap going forward, the two sides will have to move player option decision deadlines, salary guarantee dates, expiration dates for trade exceptions, and several other deadlines tied to free agency and the offseason, Marks writes. Additionally, decisions will have to be made on the possible expansion of rosters, lifting the current transaction moratorium, and the draft.
NBA Plans On October 18 Free Agency, Shortened Offseason
In addition to rescheduling the 2020 draft to October 15, the NBA also informed the Board of Governors today that it’s targeting October 18 for the start of free agency, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Assuming that date – and others that have been reported this week – are accurate, the 2020 free agent period – which will headlined by the likes of Anthony Davis and Brandon Ingram, among others – could begin just six days after the NBA Finals end. That would represent the start of an extremely abridged 2020 offseason.
As Charania details, the NBA is tentatively targeting November 10 for the opening of 2020/21 training camps and December 1 for next season’s opening night.
Typically, there’s more than a three-month gap between the end of the NBA Finals and the start of training camps, and approximately a four-month gap between the end of the Finals and the start of next season. Based on Charania’s report, that timeline would shrink drastically this year, with teams in the Finals potentially getting less than a month off before reporting to camp for the new season.
It’s worth noting that while the NBA’s plan received Board of Governors approval today, the National Basketball Players Association hasn’t signed off on every aspect of it, so that shortened offseason may receive some push-back from players.
There had been speculation that the NBA might target Christmas Day for the start of the ’20/21 campaign, perhaps even pushing opening night into the new year. I wouldn’t assume that outcome is entirely off the table — getting fans back into arenas will be a major priority next season as the NBA looks to recoup lost revenue, so the league’s plans will likely hinge in part on whether or not local governments have loosened or lifted restrictions on mass gatherings.
NBA’s Board Of Governors Approves 22-Team Return-To-Play Plan
The NBA’s Board of Governors has formally approved the league’s 22-team plan to resume the 2019/20 season, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Team owners voted 29-to-1 in favor of commissioner Adam Silver‘s proposal, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The Trail Blazers were the lone dissenting vote, tweets Charania.
The plan will reportedly see 22 teams return to action beginning on July 31 with an eight-game regular season schedule to finish the season. From there, the No. 8 seed in each conference may be decided via play-in tournaments and the postseason would follow, ending no later than October 12. All games are expected to be played at Walt Disney World in Florida near Orlando, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex.
The Hornets, Bulls, Knicks, Pistons, Hawks, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Warriors won’t be part of the NBA’s restart — their seasons are over.
We covered the NBA’s plan – based on what we know so far – in greater detail right here, so be sure to check out that breakdown for much more info.
While approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors is a major step, there are still details to sort out between the league and the National Basketball Players Association. The NBPA has a virtual meeting scheduled for Friday to discuss the plan, as we relayed earlier today.
Based on reports in recent weeks, it sounds as if Silver and the NBA have been in constant contact with NBPA president Chris Paul and the players’ union and have kept their concerns in mind as they developed their plan. As such, there’s an expectation that negotiations between the two sides on specific details related to player salaries, coronavirus testing, and other important issues shouldn’t get too contentious.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA Sets New 2020 Lottery, Draft Dates
The NBA has rescheduled its 2020 draft lottery for August 25 and the draft for October 15, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The two events had initially been scheduled to take place on May 19 and June 25, respectively.
The NBA announced just over a month ago that the lottery would be postponed indefinitely, but hadn’t yet put out any official statements on the draft. With the league planning to resume play in July, there was little doubt that the draft would have to be rescheduled as well. It’s now set to take place shortly after the resumed season is scheduled to end — based on reported information, the draft could happen just three days after Game 7 of the NBA Finals.
Although we now have set dates for two of the biggest events on the NBA’s draft calendar, we’re still awaiting info on other events and deadlines. For instance, the draft combine had been scheduled to take place last month after the lottery. It remains to be seen whether the league will still try to hold a combine in August or September, perhaps in a revamped form.
Additionally, the NCAA has indefinitely postponed the deadline for early entrants to withdraw their names and maintain their college eligibility. That deadline was originally June 3 — it now seems likely it’ll be moved to sometime in the late summer as well. That will complicate the decision-making process for players still testing the waters and for colleges waiting on those players’ decisions, since the new academic year will be starting around that time.
We’re also waiting on official word on how the NBA’s draft lottery odds will work. As Hoops Rumors reported on Wednesday, the eight teams not included in the NBA’s restart this summer are expected to be locked into the top eight lottery slots. However, it remains unclear exactly how the 9-14 spots will be handled and how the league will deal with teams playing an uneven amount of games.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Knicks Plan To Interview Mike Woodson For Head Coach Job
Former New York head coach Mike Woodson is among the candidates the Knicks plan to interview when the team officially launches its head coaching search, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
Woodson, who also previously served as the head coach of the Hawks, was the lead man on the Knicks’ bench for two-plus seasons from 2012-14. During his time as New York’s head coach, Woodson led the club to a 109-79 (.580) regular season record, making the playoffs twice and winning a series in 2013 — that was the last time the Knicks appeared in the postseason.
A Creative Artists Agency client, Woodson has a connection with new Knicks president of basketball operations Leon Rose, who previously worked at CAA, notes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Woodson also interviewed for the Knicks’ head coaching job in 2018, but lost out to David Fizdale.
Multiple reports within the last couple weeks have indicated that Tom Thibodeau is believed to be the frontrunner for the Knicks’ head coaching vacancy. However, Kenny Atkinson and current interim head coach Mike Miller are also expected to be interviewed.
Before reporting the Knicks’ intentions to meet with Woodson, Begley wrote earlier today that the club’s plan is to meet with more candidates than just Thibodeau, Atkinson, and Miller.
New York’s head coaching search hasn’t formally begun, but that could happen soon — if the NBA’s 22-team resumption format is approved, as expected, it will effectively end the Knicks’ season, clearing a path for the franchise to begin handling offseason business.
Details On NBA’s Return-To-Play Plan
After suspending the 2019/20 season on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA has now finalized a plan for resuming play.
We’ll use the space below to round up all the details on that plan, answering the most commonly-asked questions and updating the story with more information as it becomes available.
This post can be found anytime on the right-hand of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features” or on the “Features” page in our mobile menu.
Has the NBA officially approved a return-to-play plan?
The NBA’s Board of Governors approved the plan on June 4, nearly unanimously. The National Basketball Players Association also signed off on June 5.
There were a few more details to sort out after that, and a number of players have expressed reservations about the plan, but it’s moving forward. The NBA and NBPA announced a finalized agreement on June 26.
When will the NBA resume play?
The season will resume on July 30. Teams are scheduled to travel to Orlando starting on July 7 and will have training camps, followed by three exhibition games, before July 30. More details on the schedule can be found here and here.
Where will the return-to-play take place?
All games will be played at Walt Disney World in Orlando. The massive property has more than enough space to house teams, and the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex has the necessary facilities for basketball games.
Games will be played without fans in attendance at The Arena, HP Field House, and Visa Athletic Center, per ESPN. Teams will stay at the Gran Destino, Grand Floridian, and Yacht Club resorts.
How many teams will return to complete the 2019/20 season?
Twenty-two teams will participate. Those teams are as follows:
- The current Eastern Conference playoff teams (8):
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Toronto Raptors
- Boston Celtics
- Miami Heat
- Indiana Pacers
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Brooklyn Nets
- Orlando Magic
- The current Western Conference playoff teams (8):
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Denver Nuggets
- Utah Jazz
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Houston Rockets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Memphis Grizzlies
- The teams within six games of a playoff spot (6):
- Portland Trail Blazers
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Sacramento Kings
- San Antonio Spurs
- Phoenix Suns
- Washington Wizards
The Hornets, Bulls, Knicks, Pistons, Hawks, Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Warriors won’t be part of the NBA’s restart — their seasons are over.
Why is the NBA bringing back 22 teams instead of 30?
Adding eight more clubs to the mix would mean bringing several hundred additional individuals onto the Disney campus, increasing the risk of spreading COVID-19. The NBA didn’t consider it necessary to bring back those eight teams, who were far removed from the playoff picture and would have had no real path to the postseason had the season played out normally.
So why 22 teams instead of 16 then?
The 22-team format accomplishes two things:
- It allows teams to play a regular season schedule rather than jumping directly to the postseason.
- It will allow the NBA to experiment with a play-in tournament.
The first point is important because players on playoff teams opposed the idea of advancing directly to the postseason without playing meaningful games first. They want to be able to shake off the rest and reestablish their chemistry before jumping into do-or-die games.
Playing regular season games will also allow these 22 teams – who have played between 64 and 67 games so far – to surpass the 70-game mark for the regular season, which is an important threshold for clubs’ agreements with regional TV networks.
Meanwhile, implementing in-season and/or play-in tournaments has long been on Silver’s wish list, and this year’s unusual circumstances presented the league with the opportunity to experiment.
So regular season games will take place when play resumes?
Yes, though they’re technically not being called regular season games. Each team will play eight pre-playoff contests, referred to by the NBA as “seeding games,” for a total of 88 games between July 30 and the start of the playoffs in August.
And will the top eight teams in each conference make the playoffs at that point?
Not necessarily. If the No. 8 seed has more than a four-game lead on the No. 9 seed, then yes, the top eight teams in that conference will automatically make the postseason. On the other hand, if the No. 9 seed is within four games of the No. 8 seed, those two teams will participate in a play-in tournament.
What will that play-in tournament look like?
Essentially, it’ll be a best-of-three series with the No. 8 team getting a 1-0 lead to start. The No. 9 team will have to win twice to claim the final playoff spot in the conference, while the No. 8 team will only need to win once.
Once the playoff teams are set, will they be reseeded one through 16, regardless of conference?
No, the postseason will assume a traditional format once the No. 8 seeds are set — teams will be divided by Eastern and Western conferences and will play best-of-seven series.
What coronavirus-related protocols will the NBA institute to ensure players’ safety?
Players, coaches, and staffers on the Disney campus are expected to undergo daily COVID-19 testing, or something close to it. Additionally, the NBA has sent out a 113-page letter detailing the health and safety measures being taken. Those protocols are too extensive to list here, but some of them are as follows:
- The plan is to have a maximum of 1,600 people on the campus at a given time. Traveling parties are limited to 37 people per team.
- The NBA will technically allow individuals to leave the campus and return, but is stressing that players shouldn’t do so. Any player that does leave and return is expected to have to quarantine for 10 days.
- Players won’t be permitted to bring guests (likely family members) to the campus until after the first round of the playoffs and are expected to be limited to three guests apiece. More details on the restrictions facing guests can be found here.
- The NBA is establishing an anonymous hotline that will allow individuals on the Orlando campus to report those who are violating social-distancing and safety guidelines. If a player is found to be violating those guidelines, he could be subject to a warning, fine, suspension, and/or even removal from the campus.
What happens if a player tests positive for COVID-19?
A single positive test won’t shut down the season, as it did in March when Rudy Gobert contracted the coronavirus. The expectation is that a player who tests positive will be required to self-quarantine for at least 10-to-14 days, with his teammates being frequently tested as they continue to play.
What if a player doesn’t want to participate due to safety concerns?
A player who chooses not to report to Orlando won’t face a fine or suspension. However, he also won’t be paid for the games he misses, and will forfeit 1/92.6th of his salary for those games. His team has the option of signing a “substitute player” to replace him. So far, a handful of players have voluntarily opted out, including Lakers guard Avery Bradley, Wizards forward Davis Bertans, and Trail Blazers forward Trevor Ariza.
How late will the season run?
If the NBA Finals go a full seven games, the last game will happen no later than October 13.
When will next season start?
The NBA is tentatively targeting November 10 for the start of next season’s training camps, with December 1 representing the target date for opening night of the regular season. In other words, a team that plays in the Finals may have to report to training camp less than a month later.
That timeline is not yet set in stone. Given how much of its revenues are tied to ticket sales and in-arena purchases, the NBA will prioritize getting fans back into arenas next season, so if the league has to wait a little longer to ensure that happens, it will likely do so.
Additionally, the NBPA – whose members may not love the idea of such a short offseason – will have to approve those proposed dates, and the union reportedly views a December 1 tip-off date for 2020/21 as unlikely.
Will the NBA play a full season in 2020/21? Will that schedule change be permanent?
That’s TBD. Everything we’ve heard suggests the NBA is still prioritizing playing a full 82-game schedule next season, in part to attempt to recoup some of this season’s lost revenues. The idea of starting the regular season in December and having it run into June (with the playoffs ending in August) has been popular in some NBA circles, but the league hasn’t committed to changing its calendar on a permanent basis.
One report has indicated the league would like to hold the 2021 Finals in mid-July, in part to allow players to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021.
When will this year’s draft and free agency period occur?
The 2020 draft has been rescheduled for October 16. Free agency is expected to open just two days later, on October 18. It’s shaping up to be an extremely hectic week for the NBA, especially if the Finals go a full seven games and end on October 13.
Player option decision dates, salary guarantee dates, trade exception expiry dates, and various other deadlines will be pushed back as well to coincide with the new calendar. For instance, a trade exception that would previously have expired on July 6 will now expire on October 23.
How will the draft lottery odds be determined?
The draft lottery – rescheduled for August 20 – will be made up of the eight teams not involved in the league’s restart and the six teams that don’t make the postseason. Those teams’ lottery seeds and odds will be based on their records through March 11, according to the NBA.
Those seeds and odds can be found here, but will be subject to change if a current playoff team loses its No. 8 seed to a current lottery team. For instance, if if the Wizards were to beat the Magic in a play-in tournament, the Suns, Spurs, Kings, Pelicans, and Trail Blazers would all move up a spot in the lottery standings, Orlando would get the 14th spot in those lottery standings, and the Wizards would draft 15th overall.
The rest of the draft order will be based on the 16 playoff teams’ combined records across regular season games and “seeding games.” For instance, the Heat (41-24) are currently projected to draft 23rd, but if they go 1-7 when play resumes, they’ll likely move up in the draft.
How will players’ salaries and next season’s salary cap be impacted by the NBA’s plan?
That remains unclear. By playing 88 more regular season games, the NBA will ensure that many of its teams surpass the 70-game threshold and fulfill regional TV contracts, which is good news for the league’s financial situation.
Players – who are currently having 25% of their pay checks withheld – will still be required to forfeit a portion of their 2019/20 salaries as a result of the 171 regular season games that will end up being canceled. But there’s a belief they’ll begin receiving their full pay checks at some point this summer.
As for how the 2020/21 salary cap will be affected, that will require some negotiation between the NBA and NBPA and will hinge in part on how significantly the league expects next season’s revenues to be impacted by the pandemic. There’s a belief that neither the league nor the union will want the cap to drop off substantially this offseason, so artificially smoothing it could be the most logical solution.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NBA Expected To Approve 22-Team Return-To-Play Format
11:25am: The NBA’s Board of Governors is expected to approve Silver’s plan on Thursday, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
10:00am: When he meets with the NBA’s Board of Governors on Thursday, commissioner Adam Silver intends to propose a return-to-play plan that will see 22 teams resume their seasons, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
The NBA reportedly discussed proposals involving 16, 20, 22, or 30 teams last week, with that 22-team format gaining increased support. Although the ownership groups from teams like the Hawks and Bulls expressed a desire to participate, per Charania, the plan will exclude them and the rest of the NBA’s bottom-eight teams in order to limit – to some extent – the number of people the league will have to bring into its “bubble” in Orlando.
As Charania details, the 22-team format would bring back the 16 current playoff teams, along with six additional clubs who are within six games of a postseason spot (the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, Suns, and Wizards).
The plan would see those 22 clubs play eight regular season games apiece, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), before a play-in tournament is held for the eighth seed. The play-in format would be as follows, per Charania:
- If the No. 9 seed is more than four games behind the No. 8 seed, the No. 8 seed would automatically earn the playoff spot.
- If the No. 9 seed is within four games of the No. 8 seed, those two teams would enter a play-in tournament for the final playoff spot in the conference. Such a tournament would be double-elimination for the No. 8 seed and single-elimination for the No. 9 seed (ie. a best-of-three series, with the No. 8 seed given a 1-0 lead to start).
Currently, the Grizzlies hold a 3.5-game lead on Portland, New Orleans, and Sacramento in the West, with San Antonio four games back, and Phoenix six games back. In the East, the Magic have a 5.5-game lead on the Wizards, so Washington would need to make up some ground to force a play-in tournament.
Besides giving those six current lottery teams a chance to make the postseason, the format will allow all 22 clubs to surpass 70 regular season games, ensuring that many of them meet the requirements for regional TV contracts, which will help out the league financially.
According to Charania, July 31 remains the target date for the resumption of the 2019/20 season, with the draft lottery and combine – which had been postponed indefinitely – now expected to take place in August. Presumably, those events would take different forms than they normally do, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s not clear yet how the 2020 lottery odds may be affected by the play-in tournament format.
[RELATED: Proposed NBA Plan Would Complete Finals By October 12]
The NBA’s proposal for the resumption of the season is also expected to include many medical and safety protocols, Charania notes. Sources tell The Athletic that those protocols will likely include players showering at their hotels rather than in the arena, inactive players sitting in the stands instead of on the bench, and players not being permitted to bring guests into the “bubble” until the postseason begins.
Any proposal from the NBA will require approval from at least three-quarters of the league’s Board of Governors (ie. 23 of 30 team owners). However, even if the plan isn’t every club’s first choice, there’s an expectation that team owners will get behind Silver and vote in favor of his proposal.
The Board of Governors’ Thursday call is scheduled for 12:30pm eastern time, tweets Wojnarowski.
NBA’s Top Teams Explore Possible Alternatives To Home-Court Advantage
If and when the NBA resumes, it’s expected to happen at Walt Disney World in Orlando, at neutral sites without fans in attendance. As such, the idea of a playoff series featuring a traditional home and road team will essentially be out the window — besides the home team not benefiting from having its fans in the arena, that team also won’t experience the comfort of being in its home locker room and shooting on familiar rims.
Although the teams at or near the top of each conference will no longer have a traditional home-court advantage in postseason series, those clubs are exploring possible alternatives to getting that extra game on their respective home courts, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPN. According to McMenamin, some of the ideas those teams have discussed are as follows:
- The higher seed being awarded the first possession in the second, third, and fourth quarters.
- The higher seed receiving an extra coach’s challenge.
- The higher seed being able to designate one player who fouls out after seven fouls instead of six.
- The higher seed having the opportunity to transport its actual hardwood home court to Orlando.
According to McMenamin, one of the more off-the-wall ideas discussed would even see the 16 playoff teams conduct a “draft” of Walt Disney World hotels, so the top teams get first choice at where they’ll be staying. Allowing the higher seeds to pick their opponents has also been broached, but is considered unlikely.
As McMenamin details, there are concerns within the NBA that any tweaks could come off as gimmicky or too radical. Additionally, if any plan requires two-thirds approval from the league’s Board of Governors, it may not even get the votes necessary for approval anyway. McMenamin describes those top teams’ efforts to create a home-court advantage as something of a “Hail Mary.”
“I do think the NBA cares about it,” one Eastern Conference executive told ESPN. “(But) I do not think it’s a top priority for them.”