NBA restart: 22 teams, 8 regular season games each and potential play-in for eighth seed
The NBA will officially be approved to return on Thursday. Here are the details.
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The NBA's Board of Governors meet via conference call Thursday at 12:30 p.m. ET and will approve a 22-team format for a restart of the 2019-20 regular season at Disney World in Orlando, according to multiple reports. The 16 teams currently in the playoff field will be joined by New Orleans, Portland, Phoenix, Sacramento, San Antonio (Western Conference) and Washington (Eastern Conference).
All teams will play eight regular-season games – starting July 31 -- to determine playoff seeding by conference. If after that point the No. 9 seed in either conference is fewer than four games behind the No. 8 seed, there will be a play-in tournament. It would be double-elimination for the eighth seed and single-elimination for the No. 9.
There will be multiple games per day at the Wide World of Sports complex on the Disney campus, much like an NCAA Tournament host city or the NBA Summer League. The playoffs will feature 2-4 games per day in the early rounds and 1-2 after. Game 7 of the NBA Finals would be Oct. 12 if needed.
Training camps are expected to last approximately 2-3 weeks, meaning players will start reporting around July 10. The two teams that reach the NBA Finals would be on location for basically three months.
Currently, Memphis holds the No. 8 seed in the West, but the Blazers, Pelicans and Kings are just 3.5 games back, the Spurs 4.0 and the Suns 6.0. In the East, the hometown Magic hold down the final playoff spot, with the Wizards 5.5 games back. No alterations to tiebreaker rules have been reported. The Lakers (+200) and Bucks (+250) remain the moneyline title favorites at William Hill.
The season is over for Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Detroit, Atlanta (future Hall of Famer Vince Carter has officially played his final game with Carter to retire), Minnesota, Cleveland and Golden State.
The NBA Draft lottery and scouting combine will be held in August and the actual draft in October after the Finals. The Warriors, Cavs and Timberwolves each have a 14 percent chance of winning the lottery. Free agency also will start in October.
Look for a few coaching moves to happen now with those eliminated teams, specifically the Bulls and Knicks.
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