The NBA could return as soon as July 31, according to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Wednesday.
Wojnarowski reports that the NBA's Board of Governors will vote on Thursday to ratify the return-to-play plan, which would run from July 31 to as late as Oct. 12 at Disney World in Orlando.
The NBA's plan involves 22 teams, with the top 13 teams in the Western Conference and the top nine teams in the Eastern Conference. The additional teams joining the top 16 teams are the Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Suns, Kings and Spurs in the West and the Wizards in the East.
Each of the 22 teams will play eight games to conclude the regular season and determine seeding, and determine who will make the 16-team playoffs. If at the end of the final regular season games the No. 9 seed in either conference is fewer than four games behind the No. 8 seed, a brief play-in tournament will be held between those two teams for the final playoff spot. The No. 9 seed would face single elimination, and the No. 8 seed would face double elimination.
Under the NBA's proposed return-to-play plan, the draft lottery and combine would be held in August, before the conclusion of the regular season.
The NHL has yet to set a date or location for its return-to-play plan, but the NHL will likely be operating under a similar timeframe. NHL training camps will open no earlier than July 10, and are expected to last three weeks, which would have the NHL returning at the beginning August at the earliest.
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