The NBA has announced that both the draft lottery and combine will be postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus outbreak. The lottery and combine were both scheduled to take place in Chicago, with the lottery taking place May 19th and the combine May 21-24.
It’s not a surprise as in order. For the lottery to take place, the regular season would need to be over either organically or by league order. The lottery is made up of the 14 teams who missed the playoffs, so with the regular season still suspended those teams are yet to be determined.
There is no word on when the lottery and combine will commence since there has been no real update on when the season will resume. There was some encouraging news however.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski the NBA has held off on moving the draft which is currently slated for June 25th.
The league hesitating could just be a desperate measure of hope, or it could mean that we could see the season resume sooner than we anticipated. Woj’s sources still expect the draft to be moved but by keeping the draft date, at least for now, the league has left the door open for a return sooner rather than later.
The NFL recently held their draft virtually and for the most part it was deemed a success. One stark difference is that the NFL was able to hold its combine and some player interviews. The NBA has yet to end the regular season, let alone have an opportunity to review player medical records, interview players, or anything close to workouts.
Hopefully a return to normal comes sooner rather than later and the draft can be held on June 25th, but that seems less and less likely each and every day.
Mandatory Credit – © Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
