Lakers news: We are getting a better understanding of what the offseason is going to look like.
Laker fans got the best bit of Los Angeles Lakers news that they could have asked for when it was confirmed that the NBA would be returning at the end of July to crown a champion in 2020.
The league has been on hiatus since mid-March and altogether, this delay in play, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, will push the season back four months past when the season typically ends.
The NBA usually crowns its champion in early June and then the rest of the summer months are dedicated to a wild offseason that is always more interesting than any other major sports league. Instead, a champion will be crowned in early to mid-October, with the following season starting in early December.
The offseason is getting crunched, and we are starting to figure out the significant dates of the offseason, giving us a better understanding of how this is going to unfold.
Lakers news: The important offseason dates that have been announced
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has been busy on Twitter on Saturday as he reveals all of the significant dates that are going to shape the offseason. This is what we know thus far, based on Wojnrawoski’s tweets:
- October 16: NBA Draft (August 17th is the early-entry deadline, October 6 is early-entry withdrawal deadline)
- October 18: Start of free agency (Moratorium period is October 19-23)
- Free agency negotiations start at 6 p.m. est.
The absolute longest that the 2019-20 season is going to go is to October 12th. If the two teams in the NBA Finals go to seven games then they would have wrapped up the Finals a mere four days before the NBA Draft is set to take place.
That is actually not all that different from what already happens. Last year, the NBA Finals only went to six games and the draft was seven days after the Toronto Raptors were crowned champions.
The free-agent period is what is getting crammed but it will provide fast action and quick news. Most big free agents sign in the first few days of the free agency, anyway, but it will still be interesting to see how negotiations play out as they obviously will not have as much time to talk things over.
For those unfamiliar, the moratorium period is when players are allowed to discuss with teams but are not yet allowed to put pen to paper and sign a contract. The moratorium period has been six days the last few years and used to be as long as nine days. This will cram negotiations some.
Teams will soon get back to work after what is bound to be a hectic month of October. Training camp for the 2020-21 season begins on November 10, less than a month after the NBA Finals could end, which could be gruesome for a team like the Lakers.