NBA Draft Officially Rescheduled For November 18
Sep 16, 2020, 5:14 PM | Updated: Nov 12, 2020, 11:43 am
NBA Draft prospects Kevin Porter Jr., Nicolas Claxton, Sekou Doumbouya, Goga Bitazde, Keldon Johnson, Nassir Little, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Rui Hachimuri, Jarrett Culver, Cam Reddish, Coby White, Zion Williamson, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Ja Morant, De'Andre Hunter, Darius Garland, Brandon Clarke, Romeo Langford, Jaxson Hayes, Tyler Herro, Bol Bol, PJ Washington, Matisse Thybulle and Mfiondu Kabengele stand on stage with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver before the start of the 2019 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 20, 2019 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
(Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – After several months of rumors, the NBA draft is once again on the move. Last week ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA and the league’s Players Association are working rescheduling the draft to November 18 after originally rescheduling the event for October 16. Now, the November 18 date is official.
The draft traditionally takes place in late June, but was delayed along with the rest of the NBA season amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The National Basketball Association announced today that the date of the NBA DRaft 2020 presented by State Farm has been moved to Wednesday, Nov 18 and will air on ESPN,” the league announced. “The date remains subject to change as circumstances warrant.”
NBA Draft 2020 presented by State Farm scheduled for November 18 on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/fnz0tfCOPk
— NBA Draft (@NBADraft) September 16, 2020
“The revised date allows additional time to conduct the 2020pre-draft process, gather more information about the potential start date for the 20-21 season and advance conversations between the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association regarding related Collective Bargaining Agreement matters.”
In light of the pandemic, the league and the NBAPA have been forced to negotiate a series of important issues, including the league’s salary cap. With the playoffs set to end by October 13, the league would have had only three days to tally the final accounting numbers for the season and relay that information to the teams.
As the future salary cap changes, so too may the strategies of teams drafting in the first round. Some teams may prefer to avoid adding guaranteed salaries with a first-round draft pick, while others may prefer to move into the first round of the draft to find cost-controlled deals.
A significant part of why teams wanted that draft pushed back — in this case, likely a month to November 18 — was to allow the NBA and NBPA more time to negotiate the new salary cap numbers for 2020-2021. Teams need those figures to be able to conduct trades around the draft.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 9, 2020
“A significant part of why teams wanted that draft pushed back — in this case, likely a month to November 18 — was to allow the NBA and NBPA more time to negotiate the new salary cap numbers for 2020-2021,” Wojnarowski said. “Teams need those figures to be able to conduct trades around the draft.”
The Utah Jazz own the 23rd pick in the upcoming draft, their only selection in either the first or second round.
The league hopes to host virtual a pre-draft combine for teams to analyze the draft prospects ahead of the draft.
