The National Basketball Association (NBA) has announced it is suspending the’ draft lottery’ and ‘drafts combine’ events that it has scheduled to take place in the city of Chicago later in May.
Despite the delay having been suspected for some time, the official decision was only made by the league late last week, with the lottery now postponed until the regular basketball season is completed or declared officially over.
This is due to the fact that team records determine the odds that the 14 non-playoff teams will have of securing the right to pick No. 1 overall in the draft.
A statement released by the NBA read: “The NBA announced the postponement of NBA Draft Lottery 2020 and NBA Draft Combine 2020, both scheduled to take place later this month in Chicago.
“More information on each event will be shared at a later date as the NBA continues to closely monitor the coronavirus pandemic and consult with infectious disease specialists, public health experts and government officials.”
Prior to this suspension the lottery will have taken place on May 19, with the draft combine set to run between the dates of May 21-24.
As it stands the draft has been scheduled for June 25. However, due to the continued spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, it is expected that the draft date will also see a change.
Regarding the combine, the NBA usually invites around 70 players, with a selection of them working out and featuring in scrimmages. The combine has also represented a chance for teams to conduct physicals with players, a key component of the evaluation process.
San Antonio CEO, R.C. Buford, stated: “There are no target dates. There are more target responsibilities. And there’s still questions. We just got the early entry candidates list in the last couple days. That at least gives some kind of clarity on who the draft pool will be. But from there, we don’t have clarity on the Chicago pre-draft or medicals or all the things that go on with draft preparation.”
Similarly to a potential league restart, the NBA has taken into consideration a host of options regarding both the draft and pre-draft event schedules.