NBA Draft 'won't take place until 2020 season is completed'
Friday 17 April 2020 08:04, UK
The 2020 NBA Draft will likely not take place until the season ends, an NBA source told Field Level Media on Thursday.
One day before the WNBA conducts its draft virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NBA has no certain plans for when the league will conduct a draft of its own.
The NBA Draft is currently scheduled for June 25.
"No decisions have been made yet," the source said. "You can likely expect that the draft wouldn't be held until after the season concludes."
The 2020 NBA Draft was scheduled to be held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, with the Draft Lottery scheduled for May 2020. No plans are set for altering the Draft Lottery or when and how that process could be conducted should the regular season not resume.
The NBA regular season went on hiatus on March 11, and plans to resume play aren't being made. The league is set to discuss next steps before May 1.
Plans under consideration include a 25-day 'up-ramp' period - including 11 days of individual work before teams come together - before games would resume.
The NBA regular season was scheduled to end Wednesday (April 15).
Variables for setting a draft date include whether any portion of the regular season will be played, and if the NBA will conduct a full, 16-team postseason in the expected best-of-seven series format.
The league requested all 30 teams investigate availability of their home buildings through August.
But a proposal discussed in the league office includes sequestering players and teams in a single location - Las Vegas and the Bahamas were reportedly options, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst - to address concerns about spreading the coronavirus.
The NFL opted not to move its draft date. The event, April 23-25, is being conducted remotely with commissioner Roger Goodell announcing draft picks from the basement of his home.
