The NBA, which was interrupted on March 11, is to be continued with 22 teams in Orlando on July 31. Adrian Wojnarowski reports from ESPN. Accordingly, on Thursday evening (6.30 p.m. German time) the Board of Governors should approve a corresponding plan by the league to resume play with eight regular season games.
A three-quarters majority of the board is required to agree to the recommendation of NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Team owners are confident that the proposal will be accepted with a large majority.
According to Wojnarowski, the season should last from July 31 to October 12. A possible game 7 of the finals would take place on this date. As previously reported, 22 teams will be invited to Disney World in Orlando, Florida, 13 from the Western and nine from the Eastern Conference.
In addition to the 16 franchises currently on the playoffs, the New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and the Washington Wizards are also the only team from the east to continue playing for the postseason. This means that all teams with a gap of a maximum of six games are eligible to play in the playoff ranks.
NBA: regular season and play-in tournament before the playoffs
Each team should initially play eight regular season games to determine the seed list for the playoffs. There will then be a play-in tournament between the eighth and ninth places in each conference to determine the last two playoff participants.
However, this should only take place if the two teams are separated by four or fewer games. The eighth-place winner would have to win one game in such a duel, while the ninth-place winner would have to win two games to ensure playoff participation.
The qualified teams are expected to start team training in the domestic training halls at the beginning of July and continue in Orlando later in the month. The unqualified teams like Atlanta, Charlotte or Detroit are said to be partially disappointed with the decision, as they are facing a break of around nine months. Therefore, there should already be talks about a training camp in summer and an autumn league to bridge the break.
At the end of the season, NBA Draft and the Free Agency are to follow immediately. The latest rumors were that the Free Agency could even be held before the college talent draw (actually scheduled for June 25). Now the original order will probably be kept and the events will only be postponed by more than three months.
NBA restart: These teams should start in Orlando
22 teams will travel to Florida, which means that eight teams are no longer in action. These are the two worst teams in the west (Minnesota, Golden State) and the six worst teams in the east (Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Atlanta, Cleveland).
| placement | Western Conference | Eastern Conference |
| 1 | Los Angeles Lakers (49-14) | Milwaukee Bucks (53-12) |
| 2 | L.A. Clippers (44-20) | Toronto Raptors (46-18) |
| 3 | Denver Nuggets (43-22) | Boston Celtics (43-21) |
| 4 | Utah Jazz (41-23) | Miami Heat (41-24) |
| 5 | Oklahoma City Thunder (40-24) | Indiana Pacers (39-26) |
| 6 | Houston Rockets (40-24) | Philadelphia 76ers (39-26) |
| 7 | Dallas Mavericks (40-27) | Brooklyn Nets (30-34) |
| 8 | Memphis Grizzlies (32-33) | Orlando Magic (30-35) |
| 9 | Portland Trail Blazers (29-37) | Washington Wizards (24-40) |
| 10 | New Orleans Pelicans (28-36) | |
| 11 | Sacramento Kings (28-36) | |
| 12 | San Antonio Spurs (27-36) | |
| 13 | Phoenix Suns (26-39) |
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