How Warriors have refocused on 2020 NBA Draft with new calendar set

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The coronavirus pandemic threw a wrench into the standard NBA calendar. The 2019-20 season was suspended back on March 11, and won't return until the league's Orlando bubble restart play gets underway on July 30.

When teams like the Warriors normally would be going through free agency and NBA Summer League action, 22 other clubs were flying down to Florida and settling into individual hotel rooms at Disney World as the league tries to complete the most unique season it's ever seen.

With NBA action expected to return in less than two weeks, the calendar for the draft and free agency is beginning to take shape. Warriors head coach Steve Kerr joined 95.7 The Game on Friday, and explained how the Warriors are shifting their attention with the offseason getting underway.

"We're getting refocused now on the draft," Kerr said on Damon, Ratto and Kolsky. "With Orlando starting up and teams down there, there's actually a calendar in place, where things are starting to happen. We've been in touch with all of our players.

"It just feels like there's a real offseason ahead of us, and we know 'OK, here's what we can do.' Then here comes the draft in October and free agency is after that and, it just feels like there's a schedule that we can follow. The last couple of months have been pretty quiet, and I sense that things are starting to pick up. And we're just having more and more conversations internally about the draft and free agency than we were a few weeks ago."

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Although Kerr and the Warriors' front office now have concrete dates to plan for with regard to the draft and free agency period, the organization remains unsure when they'll be able to sit down in person with this year's crop of prospects.

"In fact, I asked [general manager] Bob [Myers] that today, we were on the phone earlier," Kerr said. "There's still no word, no clarity on that. So we just have to prepare and keep preparing the best way we can, and it'll all play out almost in real time, we'll just have to do it as it comes."

In addition to the lottery pick, Golden State is expected to pursue veterans at the wing and in the frontcourt as the team hopes to jump back into championship contention after a dismal debut season at Chase Center. It was reported last week that Myers will have acquiring a backup point guard for Steph Curry high on his list of priorities.

[RELATED: Warriors could target these six backup point guards in offseason]

In NBC Sports Bay Area's latest NBA mock draft, James Ham has the Warriors selecting a big man who hails from the West Coast, and would bring a tantalizing skillset to Kerr's offensive scheme.

Due to the ongoing pandemic, teams have had to adopt unique methods for evaluating potential draftees. But asking top prospects to fly all over the country doing group workouts and meetings with various teams doesn't sound feasible given where our country currently stands in the reopening process.

Nevertheless, teams must press on and attempt to find a good fit while relying on game film and virtual conversations for the time being.

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