Reports: Teams will begin recalling players, league likes Orlando as return-to-play site
It seems that the NBA is beginning to lay-out a plan to resume the 2019-2020 season which was paused in mid-March. According to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, clubs are expecting the league to issue guidelines and protocols that will allow teams to start recalling players that have gone out-of-market to self-isolate. Also, The Athletic is reporting that Orlando is one of the top locations for the NBA to resume its season.
Adrian Wojnarowski was also reporting on the story with Zach Lowe regarding the NBA potentially laying out new guidelines, which would be scheduled to take effect June 1st. According to Lowe and Woj, the new guidelines will be the first step in the process that will eventually lead to the resumption of the NBA season. Sources told ESPN that teams expect they will also be able to expand workouts that have already begun starting around June 1st as well.
The NBA’s new guidelines weren’t the only interesting thing being reported about the league today. According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Shams Charania, their sources indicate Orlando has emerged as the front-runner city for the NBA to resume the 2019-2020 season. The Orlando/Disney World area has emerged as “a clear frontrunner for return-to-play site” according to Charania. The Athletic is currently reporting that the league is looking at a mid-July tip-off for games.
The 2019-20 NBA season was paused on March 11th, 2019 after Utah Jazz Center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 before a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The last NBA game that was played in full was a matchup between the Mavericks and Nuggets on March 11th which was won by Dallas 113-97.
