The 2020-21 NBA season is looking like it will be much shorter than the typical NBA season. This helps offset a short offseason that will be jam-packed with the usual activities.
With the 2019-20 season resuming, everything is getting pushed back. That leaves very little time for a normal offseason. The NBA has made it clear they want to get back to a normal schedule as soon as possible. This will help them get back on track with minimal change.
In addition to that, the Olympics will be next summer. It in the NBA’s best interest to have their season conclude prior to the Olympics starting.
What do GM’s think about the shortened 2020-21 NBA season?
Atlanta Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk made some comments about the NBA’s tentative plans on a conference call:
“If you’re going from the middle of October to starting the season the first of December, if you are one of the teams in the Finals, that’s quick, but they want to try to stay as close to the historical timing as possible. So I don’t think this is something you’ll see stick. They’ve talked to us on one of our GM calls that it might be a condensed schedule next year. More so than in the past. As you know, there’s been a big drive to avoid back-to-backs and certainly four in five nights, but we might find ourselves in a situation next year where it would be much more condensed.
Because of this circumstance, I think the league wants to stay as close to its original schedule as possible,” Schlenk said. “There’s a lot of different reasons for that — the college season, the draft and how all of that plays out. So that’s why they’ve laid out a timeline where it would be a very quick turnaround from the NBA Finals to the start of the season.”
Training camp for the 2020-21 NBA season is slated to start Nov. 10, 2020. The first game of the season will be less than a month after that on December 1st as things stand right now.
The lottery following the 2019-20 season is set for August 25th. After that, the NBA Draft is scheduled for October 15th, 2020. The schedule right now gives rookies less than one month to get ready for their first NBA training camp. That will be a big difference for the new rookie class.
Are the uninvited teams up to anything?
It’s a possibility the 8 teams not involved in the continued NBA season put together some Summer League type games.
There are a lot of unprecedented issues the NBA is trying to remedy right now. Time will tell if they are making the right moves for the long term health of their brand and league. A shortened 2020-21 NBA season looks to help keep them on track.
