The name of the game right now is to wait and see. With that said, the NBA draft may be pushed back to the summer.
According to basketball reporter Adam Zagoria, although nothing is official, sources say that the NBA draft may get pushed back to July or August.
Nothing official from the NBA but multiple league sources expect the NBA Draft to be pushed back to July or August.
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) March 17, 2020
The draft is currently set for scheduled for June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. However, given the world-wide disruption of daily life due to COVID-19—also known as coronavirus—the NBA will likely have to review dates for all offseason procedures going forward.
The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie and John Hollinger say pre-draft preparation will be significantly impacted.
Pre-draft workouts, whether domestic or abroad, will become increasingly difficult given the current travel limitations. Right now there are federal travel bans to many areas outside of the United States. Even domestic travel has been cautioned in most cases.
Additionally, the NBA combine and draft pro-days will also likely need some tinkering in terms of their start dates.
Furthermore, Vecenie and Hollinger also mention that the idea of “testing the waters” for draft prospects prior to declaring for the draft may not work if prospects can’t physically showcase their skills at select pro-days or invitationals.
Given the colossal upheaval of daily life, it’s difficult to forecast what an NBA draft might look like. Would it be a video conference? Would there be only select support staff/NBA officials as well as players allowed?
These are questions that will also be answered in due time, but this is just another necessary adaptation in the current world of sports.
