The NBA G League is discussing a number of options with its 28 teams for the 2020/21 season, one of which includes playing in a bubble environment, according to Harrison Feigen of SB Nation.
Teams were notified that the goal remains to play out a full season, Feigen reports, though exact details of the campaign remain unknown. The bubble environment could also exist in ‘regional bubbles’, rather than the Disney format used to finish the 2019/20 NBA season.
Besides the importance of developing young talent, another major push for the G League season to happen is the newly introduced Select Team, league sources told Hoops Rumors. The team acts as a one-year development program for NBA prospects fresh out of high school, with five-star recruits such as Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd set to play if a season is held.
Despite much about the G League campaign being unknown, the NBA and its players’ union have agreed to a start date for their season: December 22. The draft remains scheduled to be held on November 18, with free agency expected to commence shortly thereafter.
Here are some other odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Veteran forward Quincy Acy is in discussions on a new deal with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel, according to Roi Cohen (as relayed by Sportando). Acy holds several years of NBA experience with the Raptors, Kings, Knicks, Mavericks, Nets and Suns, getting drafted No. 37 in 2012.
- Free agent Shelvin Mack has signed in Greece with Panathinaikos, the team announced on social media. Mack, 30, also holds several years of NBA experience, making past stops with the Wizards, Sixers, Hawks, Jazz, Magic, Grizzlies and Hornets. He most recently played with Hapoel Jerusalem in Israel.
- Patrick Reusse of The Star Tribune grades how different sports leagues adapted to COVID-19 this year. The NBA ranked in the “A” category, as the league successfully kept the virus away from its players in the Disney campus restart format.
Before December 22, a few players are going to text positive Covid.
Yeah they should ban all cellphones so there’s no chance of them texting positive! Haha just teasing… but while idk whether or not they will prior to Dec 22… I do think that not playing in a bubble is going to lead to a lot more positives than there were while in Disney — and if the numbers country-wide keep rising… it could be quite difficult to maintain a normal schedule. I mean just look at the havoc the virus caused the MLB… one can only hope that maybe because of how much smaller the rosters are in the NBA that they can somehow avoid issues like the Marlins had in baseball. But idk… it’s definitely going to be a lot riskier and potentially problematic to try and play and NBA season without a bubble environment.
The smaller rosters are going to make it more difficult to stage games. NBA requires leaning on top players more heavily than MLB, and the depth is much shorter. You lose a couple guys to Covid, you have a couple guys injured and what are the games going to look like? How certain can the league be other players are safe from spreading to healthy players on other team?
Baseball has a better amount of physical distance as well between teams. Is anyone expecting infection rates will start to decrease a month from now? It will be climbing further. How many players are going to opt out of next season as well? I have a feeling owners set dec 22 as start to get clock ticking on how salaries will be further prorated when season is suspended.
Unless a magic vaccine cure is right around the corner, I don’t see how the league is going to be travelling around and trusting players and personnel to be appropriately careful.
If a player knows he’s going to skip, he should tell the team so theycan adjust the roster before they see he hasn’t shown up. But a player is not motivated to encourage a team to use the first for his position!