10-26-2020, 04:25 PM
https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2020/10/note...eason.html
Quote:[i]“It’s interesting Silver talked behind the scenes about waiting until a March time-frame if it meant getting a vaccine,” [/i]one NBA insider told Berman.[i] “That’s until the finance committee showed him the numbers.”
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Tipping off the 2020/21 season before Christmas would allow the NBA to air games on December 25, which is one of the most important days of the year for the league’s TV partners. It would also allow the league to hold its playoffs in the spring, with the Finals taking place at the very start of summer, instead of in the late-summer and fall like this year. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported over the weekend that the NBA believes its new plan could mean salvaging $500MM in potential revenue.
[i]“The priority is getting back to the October-to-June format for 2021/22,” [/i]a source told Berman.[i] “They found out the hard way not enough people watch TV in the summer. The virus and real-life struggles obscure the reality that sports on TV in the summer don’t generate enough viewers.”[/i]
Quote:
- People around the league don’t expect push-back from the players’ union to derail the NBA’s proposed schedule, Windhorst stated on his Hoop Collective podcast. [i]“They’re probably going to have to agree to this,” [/i]Windhorst said (per RealGM).[i] “In talking to people on the league side this past week, they didn’t act like getting the players to agree was going to be that big of a stumbling block. I’m sure some people are going to be upset, but I’m not sure what they can do about it.”[/i]
Quote:
- Assuming the plan gets the go-ahead, the free agent period and offseason will be accelerated in a major way, which isn’t great news for teams expecting to have major roster turnover this fall, as Berman writes. [i]“This is going to favor teams with stable rosters,”[/i] one source told The New York Post.
Quote:
- Teams are hoping to get clarity soon about where the salary cap will land for 2020/21, as well as an updated projection for ’21/22. Appearing on today’s episode of The Lowe Post podcast with Zach Lowe, ESPN’s Bobby Marks said that for the time being, most teams are using a $115MM cap estimate for ’21/22.