Milwaukee Bucks: Draft delay crucial to potential season resumption
By Adam McGee
With news that the NBA’s teams are united in wanting the draft delayed, the chances of the Milwaukee Bucks’ outstanding season being resumed were boosted.
Basketball is far from the priority at present, but given just how successful their season had been up until the point of suspension, the Milwaukee Bucks will undoubtedly want to see the current campaign resumed once it’s safe to do so.
On that front, there was a piece of good news on Friday. The actual return to playing may be no nearer, but the NBA’s teams at least seem united on delaying a major event that’s inextricably linked to when one season can finish and a new one can begin.
More from Bucks News
- Bucks 2023-24 player profile: Can MarJon Beauchamp take a leap?
- Piecing together the Milwaukee Bucks’ dream starting 5 in 5 years
- Predicting Thanasis Antetokounmpo’s 2023-24 stats for the Bucks
- Grade the trade: Bucks land reputable backup guard in swap with Pacers
- New workout video should have Milwaukee Bucks fans excited
Of course, I’m referring to the NBA Draft, which usually follows hot on the heels of the Finals, and essentially opens up the market for league-wide deals heading into free agency.
Currently still scheduled for its traditional timeline with a June 25 date, the draft could stand as a major obstacle in any attempt to prolong the season, particularly given the implications it also carries for college basketball.
According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony, though, the NBA’s teams are very much on the same page in terms of wanting the draft pushed back at least a couple of months this year.
"“As information gathering on draft-eligible prospects remains limited during the coronavirus pandemic, many NBA teams are united in hopes of encouraging the league office to push the date of the draft from June 25 to no sooner than Aug. 1, sources told ESPN.”"
The reasoning for that decision is presented in that ESPN report as largely related to the ability for teams to gather information and prepare in their usual fashion, although given quotes Jon Horst provided to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently, the Bucks may be better prepared than most on that front.
"“We have a ton of live coverage,” Horst said. “My scouting staff across the world has watched countless hours of live games of all these prospects and so now we’re on the part of the process where we spend a ton of time in film study, a ton of time in conversation trying to get intel information and background information.“The piece that we potentially could miss if there’s not a combine is you might miss out on some of the medical, physical stuff, but we’ll figure that out. We’ll pivot and we’ll supplement that information, we’ll figure out how to get it in different ways and resource it in different ways.”"
More directly impacting the possibility of the current season continuing or coming to an end, though, is the fact that the draft would require freedom of movement via trades. On that front, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports that the current moratorium has been agreed to be extended indefinitely.
The NBA and NBPA have agreed to extend the moratorium on transactions (agreements, trades, player/team options) indefinitely, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 10, 2020
Business remains paused.
Next. Bucks need to make Pacers pick count in 2020 Draft. dark
The draft will be a particularly important one for the Bucks this year, but the longer its date is pushed down the road, the more the chances of them finishing the current season with an NBA championship improve.