Winners and losers of the NBA’s plan to restart the 2019-20 season
By Ian Levy
Winner: Golden State Warriors
While the Hawks have to be bummed at being left out, the Warriors have to be thrilled. With Klay Thompson still recovering from his ACL injury, their shot at a miraculous championship run through some bizarre play-in structure was slim to none. Instead of having to go through the motions for a few extra weeks of meaningless regular-season games, they get to lean into rest and recovery for their core and start looking ahead to next year.
The Warriors will have the best odds at the No. 1 pick, whenever the draft lottery is conducted and they’ll have plenty of time to focus on distance scouting or assembling trade packages to try and turn that pick into another star to help Stephen Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green bounce back to contention next year. The Warriors had literally nothing to play for and now they won’t have to.