NBA Targeting a July 31 Return to Action

As fans the world awaits the NBA’s return from an extended hiatus due to COVID-19, The Athletic’s Shams Charania is reporting July 31 is the “target date” for a return to the hardwood.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the league office informed Board of Governors that July 31 is a target date for return of season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020

While it’s still unknown exactly how the NBA plans to complete its season, Charania went on to outline four options currently being considered:

Sources: The NBA discussed four competition scenarios for restart with Board of Governors today:

– 16 teams: Directly to playoffs
– 20: Group/stage play
– 22: Games to determine seeding, play-in tournament for final seed(s)
– 30: 72-game regular season, with play-in tourney

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 29, 2020

The Thunder were 40-24 and fifth in the Western Conference when the season came to a halt on March 11. They’d face the 4-seed Utah Jazz should the NBA elect to start the playoffs immediately — the preference among NBA GM’s according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps:

“In addition to preferring a return with just playoff teams, there also was a slight preference to keep the traditional playoff format, which received 16 votes. An option to reseed the 16 playoff teams regardless of conferences received 14 votes.”