NBA sets lottery dates, Draft, before Orlando restart

The Knicks will have to wait until August 25 to find out where they will choose in the lottery. And they won’t be able to choose their new players until October 15.

With the NBA voting to restart the season in a 22-team format on July 31 at Disney World, sources confirm that the lottery will be set for August 25, after the regular season of eight games per team ends. .

The NBA Draft, originally scheduled for June 25, was delayed until October 15, a few days after the possible final game of the NBA Finals, ESPN reported.

That gives the Knicks more than four months to prepare as they search for a scoring point guard as a top priority. They currently have the sixth-best lottery chance with a nine percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick. There is a good chance that a reduced Draft Combine will take place after the lottery.

However, the NBA is still finalizing how the rest of the lottery and draft order will be completed, according to a source.

That also affects networks. In the new format, the Nets could conceivably drop out of the playoffs in a play-in and regain their first-round pick that was protected by the lottery in the Allan Crabbe deal.

That could give them two first-round picks, as they also have the Sixers’ pick, which is currently at number 20 as ranked on March 11.

It is still unclear whether the eight-game regular season will count towards rearranging the order of the draft. The Knicks have a second first-round pick courtesy of the Clippers. They would select 27 if the positions were frozen as of March 11.

Traditionally, teams that don’t make the playoffs end up in the lottery. The Nets are the seventh seed but could drop to No. 8 after the eight-game regular season and be forced to play No. 9 Washington in a play-in. That remains a long shot, as the Nets would likely have to go 2-6 to drop to No. 8 and have the Wizards within four games of them, as required by the new rules.