SALT LAKE CITY — As the NBA works toward finalizing a schedule to restart the 2019-20 season in Orlando, a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Bobby Marks suggests the league has also reached an agreement on rules that will govern rosters.
Of particular interest to the Utah Jazz, teams will be allowed to bring 17 players, including two two-way players, with them to Orlando, according to Wojnarowski and Marks. Two-way players can be included in the 15-man rosters, before playoffs begin, in order to replace an injured player.
With Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic sidelined for the remainder of the season after wrist surgery in May, the Jazz will have the ability to bring either Jarrell Brantley or Justin Wright-Foreman onto the 15-man roster without having to convert his contract to a standard NBA deal. In this case, the Jazz would not be able to sign a free agent to replace Bogdanovic.
There will be a one-week transaction period in late June that allows for all teams, not only the 22 teams heading to Orlando, to waive or sign a player or convert a two-way contract. During the transaction period, the Oklahoma City Thunder would be able to convert two-way player Luguentz Dort, who has been a regular starter, to an NBA deal and sign a two-way player to replace him.
Teams with open roster spots — the Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings — will be allowed to sign free-agent players regardless of if they have been on an NBA roster this season, leaving the door open for veterans such as J.R. Smith and Jamal Crawford to join a team in Orlando.
The exception is that international players who were not on an NBA roster this season will not be eligible to be signed for the remainder of this season or the playoffs.
In addition to the rules related to rosters, Wojnarowski reported that the NBA is looking to change the start date of the resumed season from July 31 to July 30.
Training camps are planned to begin around July 9, after teams have arrived in Orlando and been briefly quarantined.
Some timetables on 22 teams in Orlando:
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 11, 2020
6 teams eliminated after 35-40 days (based on play-in elimination).
14 total teams will be gone by 53 days, at latest.
According to Wojnarowski, the six teams eliminated after the eight regular-season games and a possible play-in tournament would leave Orlando after having been there 35 to 40 days. The NBA then expects the conference finals would end within a maximum of 82 days and for the NBA Finals to be able to start by Sept. 30.
The NBA season was suspended on March 11 following Rudy Gobert’s positive COVID-19 test while the Jazz were in Oklahoma City.