Here’s Orlando’s return plan for the 22 NBA teams

Now it seems like a formality.

The NBA, barring a last-minute turnaround, hopes to return in late July after the game was postponed on March 11 due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

A vote by the Board of Governors on Thursday afternoon will make the plan official. Three-quarters of the 30 teams need to approve the plan for it to pass, but the expectation is that that won’t be a problem. The Players Association would have to ratify the plan to resume play.

The league will propose a restart of 22 teams to play at Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Florida, ESPN reported. That will mean eight more games of the regular season for everyone involved, followed by a play-in for the final playoff spot in each conference if the ninth seed is four games behind No. 8 seed. At that point, the ninth seed would have to beat the eighth seed twice to make the playoffs, while the eighth seed would only need to win once.

Wide World of Sports has multiple courts that could allow multiple games to be played per day, giving the reboot a NCAA tournament feel from the start.

Under this plan, the restart would begin on July 31 and the last game of the NBA Finals would be no later than October 12. The draft period and free agency would follow.

This plan will include the Nets, who had the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference at the time the game was postponed, but not the Knicks, as expected, ranking 12th in the East with a record of 21. -Four. Five. After the top eight in the east, only the Wizards will be part of the pickup season. In the Western Conference, the Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Suns, King and Spurs have been invited to participate.

The 30-34 Nets would have to collapse to even face the possibility of being included in a play-in. They lead the Wizards for six complete games. However, they could drop to eighth seed as they are Magic for only half a game in the standings. It’s much more complicated in the west, where the Trail Blazers, Pelicans and Kings follow the eighth seed Grizzlies for 3.5 games and the Spurs have four back. Pelicans led by Zion Williamson could take on Ja Morant and the Grizzlies in a showdown between elite rookies that determine the playoffs’ bottom spot.

The guidelines will allow players and coaches to eat at Disney’s open-air restaurants and golf while maintaining social distance, ESPN reported. In addition, there will be daily coronavirus testing at the Disney complex. The hope is that a player with a positive result will not force a team to withdraw. That player would be quarantined and treated while the teammates continue to play as long as they don’t test positive. Disney Resort staff will reportedly not enter players’ rooms and hallways will be moderated to avoid congestion. Athletic also reported that players will not shower in the arena and will do so in their own hotel rooms, there will be no guests until the playoffs, inactive players will sit in the stands, and bench players will be in extended lines.

Two other scenarios were discussed: jumping straight into the playoffs with the top eight teams in each conference and having the 30 teams finish a regular 72-game season, but the 22-team plan has been considered the best way to move forward for some time. . Teams can start training camps at their facilities in July before stepping up in Orlando at the end of the month.