The NBA is trying to figure out a timeline for the offseason and the upcoming 2020-21 season, and it appears that everything may happen on a condensed schedule. While commissioner Adam Silver said a few weeks ago that the next season likely wouldn't start until January of February, reports surfaced last week that the league is aiming at Dec. 22 as the opening night for the upcoming season. Nothing has been set in stone yet, and there are still several major tasks that need to be worked out before the NBA can tip off the 2020-21 season.
One of those tasks is settling on when free agency will start. According to the New York Times' Marc Stein, that may begin either Nov. 20 or Nov. 21, which is just 2-3 days after the Nov. 18 NBA Draft. Soon after that would be training camp, which could start on Dec. 1 if the regular season indeed begins on Dec. 22.
All of this still has to be agreed upon by the National Basketball Players Association, and there's already been some players who have said they don't agree with the idea of starting that soon. Lakers guard Danny Green spoke for himself and his teammates -- who just completed their championship season on Oct. 11 -- and suggested that a lot of the veterans on the Lakers wouldn't be on board with playing so soon with just a little over a month off to rest and regroup.
There are likely other players around the league who feel the same way, specifically those who made deep runs in the postseason like the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets.
In regards to free agency, there may be a frenzy of signings in the first few days, where players sign the first deal that becomes available to them in hopes to secure a contract. This condensed timeline really takes the leverage out of the players' hands, especially if training camp is set to start just a week after that.
The league is clearly trying to get this sorted out as soon as possible in order to push ahead with a Dec. 22 start time. However, the players' union can still ultimately decide that this plan doesn't work for them and counter with something different.
