SALT LAKE CITY — As the NBA works toward a Thursday vote to resume the season, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the proposed timeline presented to the board of governors will include a playoffs with a latest possible end date of Oct. 12.
ESPN Sources: As the NBA models a 22-team format for a July 31 resumption in Orlando, the proposed timeline for teams as the last possible date for an NBA Finals Game 7: October 12.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 2, 2020
NBA commissioner Adam Silver will take a proposed plan to the board of governors on Thursday which is expected to be supported and passed by NBA owners.
According to ESPN, Silver’s playoff plan will include a 22-team format that would begin July 31, in Orlando, and run to October, with the last possible date for a NBA Finals Game 7 on Oct. 12. After the conclusion of the Finals, the NBA draft and a free agency period would follow.
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association continue to discuss details of the plan as Thursday nears, and much that can change between now and then. The board of governors requires a three-fourths majority on passing any proposal but multiple reports this week suggest that a vote at this point is more of a formality, with owners eager to get the ball rolling on resuming the season.
Additionally, previous Disney employee and NBA reporter Keith Smith reported that the NBA has reached an agreement for Walt Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort to be the primary host for the NBA.
Per Walt Disney World sources, Disney and the NBA have agreed that Disney's Coronado Springs Resort is likely to be the primary host resort for the NBA when they resume the season. Sources say an agreement may be reached this week, which will allow preparations to move quickly.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 2, 2020
Though the NBA has not officially announced an agreement with Walt Disney World, it has been in communication with Disney, which houses the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, which is expected to be the location for games and training once the season resumes.
According to Smith, “Coronado Springs has over 2,000 hotel rooms between their campus style buildings and the 15-story Gran Destino tower. It all surrounds a contained lake with pools, boating, and walking/jogging paths. In addition, the property has over 220,000 square feet of convention space attached.”
The NBA has been working toward a schedule for the remainder of the 2019-20 season which would allow the league to begin the 2020-21 season in late December. With an end date of Oct. 12 for the 2020 playoffs, the league would have enough time to hold the draft, a free agency period, and short break before opening the next season’s training camps and begin a preseason and regular season schedule.
In order to proceed with that type of schedule, the resumption of the 2019-20 season in Orlando would need to run smoothly without interruption. Otherwise the following season schedule would need to be altered even more.