NBA discussing to push 2020 draft back to November

According to a memo sent to NBA teams Wednesday, the NBA’s board of governors and general managers will have a discussion this week on a plan to push the 2020 draft back to November 18.

In the memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, the NBA told teams that the newly scheduled date is based on initial conversations with the Players Association. The league’s board of governors and general managers have meetings scheduled for Friday.

If the draft is passed, this would be the second time that the 2020 draft, originally planned for June 25, then postponed to Oct. 16, gets suspended. Teams were also told in the memo that an additional postponement would also allow the NBA more time to conduct the pre-draft process, including a combination in some form. Moreover, postponing the draft would allow the league more time to continue the process of deciding the best time to start next season.

Former KU All-Americans Udoka Azubuike and Devon Dotson are expected to be joint in the draft, with both falling in the class of becoming late first round to early second picks.

Both players have been trained throughout the past months and both were sent pre-draft combine invitations in late July. The list of invitees, normally including around 70 players, was about 100 this year.

If there is a combine taking place this off-season, its format is still unclear. Typically held in mid-May in Chicago, this year it appears to be online or virtual combine, with interviews between draft prospects and team officials being the focal point.

Delaying this year’s draft would also have a domino effect on other league, such as free agency and the way the NBA Players Association will determine salary cap numbers for 2020-2021, which teams obviously need to know before they can go shopping.

The most recent plan had been for free agency to begin with negotiations that are planned to start at 6 p.m. on October 18 and the end of the off-season moratorium at noon on October 23.