By Harrison Kaseff
The NBA’s Board of Governors and Players Association both voted to approve plans for a “regular season” (22 teams, 8 games) and full playoffs to crown a champion for the 2019-2020 season. All games will take place in Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex located just outside of Orlando, Florida. This location was chosen because Florida has recently allowed pro sports to resume their activities. The complex not only has above-adequate basketball facilities for teams, it also has more than enough hotel rooms for all players and coaches to safely use.
Nine teams from the east and thirteen teams from the west who make their way to Orlando. When the NBA began its hiatus on March 11th, there was only one team, the Washington Wizards, within six games back of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. However, in the West, there were 5 teams within that last playoff spot: the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Kings, Spurs, and Suns. The NBA is inviting all of these teams to Orlando, acknowledging that they would have had a legitimate shot at making the playoffs if there was no hiatus. The schedule will be completed to seed the teams for the playoffs. After the “regular season” ends, the top seven teams from each conference will clinch their playoff spots. If the eighth seed is more than four games up on the ninth seed, then the eighth seed will go into the playoffs. However, if the ninth seed is within four games of the eighth seed, then there will be a two game playoff series between the two teams, where the ninth seed will have to win both seeds to enter the playoffs.
After the seeding games and possible tournaments, the NBA Playoffs will take their usual format. There will be a champion decided no later than October 12th (depending on how quickly early playoff series go). The top six teams in each conference have already clinched their playoff spots, so they have an early lead on the other teams as of now. Teams most likely to go far in the Playoffs include the Lakers, Clippers, Bucks, Raptors (the defending champions), and Celtics. The biggest underdog team will be the aforementioned Wizards. They have the worst point differential (-4) and the worst record out of the teams that will be playing in Orlando. However, they may have a sleeping giant in all star point guard, John Wall. He was hurt for almost all of the season before the hiatus. He says he is 100% healthy right now and is eager to push the Wizards into the Playoffs. If he can will his team from the worst record in the league into the Playoffs, it will be quite the accomplishment and then there would be no telling just how far the Wizards could go.
Looking forward, the Draft Lottery will be held on August 25th. Then, the actual NBA Draft will take place on October 15th. Next year’s NBA Season will probably start on or around December 1, 2020.
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