Everything is still up in the air for the NBA season, playoffs and draft

The NBA still wants to finish the 2019-20 regular season and proceed through an offseason with some semblance of normalcy. They just have no clue how or when they’ll do it yet.

The NBA is publicly committed to finding a solution for resuming and completing the NBA season but nothing solid has come together. Today’s announcement that the NBA Draft Lottery and NBA Draft Combine (originally scheduled for May 19 and May 21-24, respectively) have been postponed indefinitely is just another reminder that nothing has been worked out.

Reporting from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski indicates that trying to complete the season and/or playoffs in a closed “bubble” environment somewhere like Las Vegas is still seen as one of the most viable scenarios. However, “most viable” is kind of a relative descriptor when you’re dealing with issues like these:

"“From the reopening to the end of a resumed season, the NBA has an expectation that it will need in the neighborhood of 15,000 tests, sources said. Several manufacturers can assure the NBA those tests, but they can’t guarantee the American public will have its needs met.”"

The league had already issued a memo to teams advising that no player or staff should be tested for COVID-19 unless they were symptomatic. The issue here is both the optics and ethics of consuming tests for the sake of reopening a sports league when they are needed elsewhere for pressing issues of public health and safety. So, even the “bubble” scenario in Las Vegas or Walt Disney World would require about 15,000 tests and enough tests to make sure there were no real shortages anywhere else in the country. Given the current environment, it’s hard to imagine that becoming reality any time soon.

There are so many moving parts and a patient approach seems prudent, but there are other chronological issues that will apply pressure. Every day that play is suspended and the financial situations of teams and the league becomes tighter — they’ve already had to raise their credit line once and a second increase could be on the table. In addition, specific dates for exercising player and team options are written into contracts, staggered throughout the month of June, and contracts ostensibly rollover or expire on July 1. The league is undoubtedly working with the players association on workarounds for those things but some plans will need to be in place before then.

The worst-case scenario is that the league just gives up on trying to resume play this season and begins planning for next season. But even that is a problem with no clear solutions right now.