Everyone knows the lockout is coming. The drop-dead date to start next season on time will likely be about the end of September or October 1 — after the last lockout there was one month of condensed free agency and training camps before regular season games started.
The lockout will wipe out Summer League, the couple weeks of games in Las Vegas each July when many free agents get a look from teams. That condensed month of free agency is more mad scramble then a time when teams get to be deliberate and make good decisions.
So the Bobcats had what seemed like a good idea — a mass free agent workout before the lockout. Bring a number of teams and a bunch of free agents together into one place and get to do some evaluation. Run some games, do some workouts.
The league shot that idea down, according to the Associated Press.NBA spokesman Tim Frank said it would have been too similar to July’s summer leagues, which are normally held next month in Las Vegas and Orlando. The Bobcats fielded a team in Orlando last year.
“With what the teams wanted to do, it was really acting as a summer league,” Frank said. “No summer leagues are permitted to be run until after July 1.”
And this summer, there will be no Summer League after July 1 when everyone is locked out.
So, get ready for the mad scramble next fall.