Restart by the end of July?

The NBA Board of Governors was informed by Commissioner Adam Silver that he is targeting July 31 as a possible date for the league to resume.  This proposal will be voted on by the board when they’ll gather for a meeting this Friday. 

Included in the proposal, which will be presumably favorable to the owners, is to have an expanded postseason with either 20 or 22 teams.  Previous reports say that majority of team owners favor going straight to the playoffs with the current standings, but this might change.

League insiders say that this could be a plan to maximize the exposure of basketball’s next marquee player, this season’s top pick Zion Williamson.  When the season abruptly stopped, New Orleans sits 10th in the Western Conference and if at the resumption of the games the NBA will follow the old format of 16 teams for the playoffs, the Pelicans will be out.  Reading between the lines, it is more of a plan to slowly recover huge revenue losses.

Having the Pelicans and Zion when the league restarts of course will be a big boost.  Because the 9th to 12th teams are only a game and a half between them in the standings, Portland, Sacramento and San Antonio could also be in as well.   The Eastern Conference just might have Charlotte and Chicago joining the playoff cast.

For economic reasons, owners of small-market teams want the season to resume with 30 teams. Being idle for 9 months (March to December) would be counter-productive for these lower-tiered teams as they needed the games to develop their young players, seek sponsorship, promote and sell tickets.   It won’t be easy jumping right into games after a long layoff.

Details on the proposals are still to be completed and finalized and hopefully by Saturday, we should know where things will be going.