The NBA Board of Governors has approved the league's plan for a 22-team return-to-play in Orlando, Florida.
In that same meeting, Shams Charania from The Athletic and Adrian Wojnarowski from ESPN, reported that the league has also established other important dates, including the draft lottery and the start of the 2020-21 season.
The NBA has set an August 25th. Draft Lottery and October 15th. Draft
PSA: This means that all college underclassmen who have declared for the 2020 NBA Draft won't have to decide their plans for next season until later in the summer. https://t.co/xkpdFC38NX
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 4, 2020
The 2020 NBA Draft withdrawal deadline will be August 3rd or 10 days after the NBA Draft Combine --- whichever comes first, per release.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) June 4, 2020
No combine date has been set yet.
Also, for the 22 teams who will be resuming the season, they will begin training camp June 30th., and will travel to Orlando July 7th. It is expected that July 31st. is the exact date when the NBA kicks off again.
Among other important dates, the association is targeting a November 10th. training camp and December 1st. for the start of the 2020-21 season.
Some preliminary expectations on Orlando format, per sources:
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020
16-day regular season - 5-to-6 games per day.
Each team expected to play one back-to-back among its eight regular-season games.
NBA Finals format expected to include games every other day during best-of-seven series. https://t.co/Lrc7JJfvPU
Sources: The NBA informed the Board of Governors of scheduled dates:
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 4, 2020
- Training camp: June 30, July 7 travel to Orlando
- 2019-20 season: July 31
- Free agency: Oct. 18
- 2020-21 targets: Nov. 10 training camp, Dec. 1 opening night (can remain fluid)