Oleksii Sidorov
The NBA’s board of governors has voted to approve the league’s 22-team format to restart the 2019-20 season in Orlando, Florida, a source told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Under the plan from commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s advisory/finance committee, 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams would play eight regular-season games, a possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed and playoffs at the Walt Disney World Resort, sources previously said.
The source said the plan was approved by a 29-1 vote.
Sources told Wojnarowski that the NBA has set the draft for Oct. 15, with the draft lottery to be held Aug. 25.
ESPN reported that Commissioner Adam Silver and the league’s advisory/finance committee have shared the broad details of a plan with teams to play at the Walt Disney World Resort, sources said. The plan includes 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams, eight regular-season games, a possible play-in tournament for the eighth seed, and playoffs, sources said.
The play-in tournament will include the No. 8 and No. 9 teams — if the ninth seed finishes the regular season within four games of the eighth, sources said. In that case, the No. 8 seed enters a double-elimination tournament and the No. 9 seed a single-elimination tournament, sources said.
Teams will begin training at team sites in July and advance to full training camps in Orlando later that month, sources said.
Among the eight teams left out of the Orlando format, several are disappointed and concerned about how a nine-month window between NBA games affects their teams competitively and financially, sources said.
For those teams left out of the playoffs — including Atlanta, Cleveland, Charlotte and Detroit — there has already been dialogue with the league urging mandatory summer training camps and regional fall leagues that could bridge the lengthy gap between seasons, sources told ESPN. Those are ideas many teams consider vital, and there is an expectation that the NBA will raise possible scenarios such as these with the players’ union, sources said.