Giving itself an extra month to figure out the finances for next season, the league has officially announced what had been expected for a few weeks:
The 2020 NBA Draft will take place on Nov. 18.
That is a little more than a month after the original date set in October. The reason for the pushed back date is money: The league and players union need to set the NBA salary cap and luxury-tax line before teams can make trades, and trades are always a big part of the draft. While teams expect the cap number to be even with this season, that would be an artificial number that will be smoothed over time, hence the negotiations. The cap/tax numbers are based on league-wide revenue and projections for next season, and good luck nailing down (and projecting future) revenue during the coronavirus pandemic.
Pushing back the NBA draft date also means pushing back the start of free agency and, ultimately, the beginning of next season. None of that has been set yet, but the season will not start before Christmas and sources have told NBC Sports it looks more and more like a February start date.
The 2020 NBA Draft will come first.
Here are the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery results and the order of picks through No. 14.
1. Minnesota Timberwolves
2. Golden State Warriors
3. Charlotte Hornets
4. Chicago Bulls
5. Cleveland Cavaliers
6. Atlanta Hawks
7. Detroit Pistons
8. New York Knicks
9. Washington Wizards
10. Phoenix Suns
11. San Antonio Spurs
12. Sacramento Kings
13. New Orleans Pelicans
14. Boston Celtics (via Memphis)
These teams will select players from players including Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, etc. This is considered an unimpressive draft class at the top, but with potential rotation players deep into the first round if teams have a good development program. One scout told NBC Sports he would be more comfortable picking in the second half of this lottery rather than at the top.