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It’s a date, folks. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA Draft Lottery and the NBA Draft are set in stone.
NBA has set an August 25 Draft Lottery and October 15 Draft, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020
August 25 isn’t too long from now, but October 15 is so far in the future, I’m afraid that the day will never come. Hornets fans have a long time before any NBA-related activity has anything to do with us. I guess that just gives us extra time to prep our draft notes.
It is good that the NBA has a set date for the lottery and the draft far ahead of time, though. August 25 will probably be in the midst of the playoffs, so the play-in tournament will have already settled the records of the teams in the bottom-half of the lottery. If the Finals were to go seven games, the last day of the 2019-2020 NBA season would be October 12, three days before the draft. That’s a quick turnaround, but I doubt the season lasts that long.
I’m glad the 2020 NBA Draft prospects have plenty of time to prepare, and now, the NCAA can set a deadline for players to withdraw from the draft after it had been pushed back from its original date, June 3.
A quick side note: the draft is being held on a Thursday night in October, presumably at the same time as an NFL game. That seems irresponsible, having so much time to schedule it.
It’s time for us to take a deep dive into the 2020 NBA Draft. That is, quite literally, all we have to look forward to until next season. At The Hive will be providing you with top-notch draft analysis along the way, so stay tuned.