The Wrap-Up: NBA Releases More Schedule Details, Draft Day Approaches

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There weren’t too many draft rumors Tuesday, but in the evening, the NBA did release some more details for the upcoming season. Let’s go right into the Wrap-Up for Tuesday.

Season Schedule Details

The NBA released some more details for the 2020-2021 season schedule Tuesday evening. Here are some of the main takeaways from the press release:

Preseason begins December 11-19

Just before training camps open, the league will release the first half of the schedule for all 30 teams.

Regular Season begins December 22

The Spurs will play 42 games against Western Conference opponents and 30 games against Eastern Conference opponents.

The Spurs will play one game on the road and one game at home against the 15 Eastern Conference teams.

As for the West, the Spurs will host the Warriors, Clippers, Lakers, Suns, Kings, Rockets, and Grizzlies twice, while playing one game on the road against each of those teams.

The Spurs will be on the road for two games against the Pelicans, Mavericks, Jazz, Trail Blazers, Thunder, Timberwolves, and Nuggets, while hosting each of those teams once in San Antonio.

All-Star Break begins March 5-10

The Second half of the season begins March 11 – May 16

The NBA will release the second half of the schedule toward the end of the first half of the schedule’s conclusion.

The Play-In Tournament begins May 18-21

When the season wraps up on May 16, the teams in each conference who stand in the 7th to 10th slots by winning percentage will go into the play-in tournament.

First, there will be a “7 vs 8” game between the seven and eight seeds of each conference. From there, there will be a “9 vs 10” game between the nine and ten seeds in each conference.

The winner of the “7 vs 8” game will host the loser of the “9 vs 10” game and the loser of the “7 vs 8” game will host the winner of the “9 vs 10” game.

Once that’s settled, the 7th and 8th seeds need to win just 1 of their 2 games to advance. The 9th and 10th seeds need to win both games to advance. This win-loss format is similar to the play-in tournament from the bubble back in August.

The Playoffs start May 22 – July 22

Latest Draft Buzz

In his latest mock draft update, Kevin O’Connor of the Ringer writes the following:

The Spurs love Bey, who has a floor as a 3-and-D-style wing but provides upside as a scorer off the dribble. Washington forward Jaden McDaniels and Kentucky guard Tyrese Maxey have also been mentioned as targets for the Spurs. However, they’re one of the many teams looking to move up and select Patrick Williams.

According to our 2020 Draft Prospects board, Saddiq Bey, who O’Connor is referencing is projected to go 14th, though two mocks have him right at 11th to the Spurs. McDaniels is projected to go 24th and Maxey 16th. Williams continues to shoot up draft boards and is now projected to go 7th, a trade-up would likely be needed for the Spurs to draft Williams.

Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated also noted that the Spurs are looking to move up in the draft in his latest report:

The Spurs appear to be angling to move up from their spot in the lottery at No. 11 and are open to moving established veterans in what would seem to be an attempt to get even younger up and down the roster. LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan (who picked up his option on Monday) are entering the final year of their contracts, and this is a good time for San Antonio to explore trades, with many teams operating with an eye toward next summer’s starry free-agent class. A contending team could acquire Aldridge or DeRozan now, play out the season, and then make use of the subsequent cap relief either of those players would create.

The draft will take place Wednesday at 7 PM CT.

 

 

 

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