The NBA has informed its teams that Wednesday, November 18 is the date currently being targeted for a rescheduled draft, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
As Wojnarowski explains (via Twitter), that date has yet to be finalized, but the NBA and NBPA have zeroed in November 18 during their negotiations, and the plan is to discuss it further in calls with the league’s Board of Governors and general managers later this week.
Shams Charania of The Athletic reported on Tuesday that the league and the players’ union had agreed to once again postpone 2020’s NBA draft date, which had previously been pushed back from June 25 to October 16. However, Charania cautioned that a new date had yet to be set.
While some teams – especially those who have been out of action for months – may be ready to get on with the draft, there are multiple reasons why the NBA was motivated to move it back again.
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), the delay may open the door for the league to hold a pre-draft combine after May’s event was indefinitely postponed. Additionally, the extra month will give the NBA more time to gather information on what next season might look like and will give the league and union more time to negotiate new salary cap numbers for 2020/21 and other issues related to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The free agent period and the start of the 2020/21 season will be delayed along with the draft. We don’t have any concrete updates on those dates yet, but it’s a safe bet that free agency will begin a few days after the draft. As for next season’s opening night, it seems increasingly likely to be postponed to early 2021.
Please let teams know salary cap and tax line as early as possible
Why?