With the 2019-20 NBA season still postponed for the time being, everything else surrounding it remains in flux as well. No one is sure when the 2020 NBA Draft or free agency will take place as well as the start of next season so for now, the league faces several question marks.
Recent discussions have brought some supposed positivity towards ultimately finishing the season, but where that leaves the off-season tasks is still unknown. The NBA Draft itself has already been postponed, but there is work being done.
One thing that hasn’t been discussed much is how this affects the prospects themselves, particularly those early entry players who are on the bubble about whether to remain or go back to college.
Thankfully for those prospects, the NBA and NCAA have decided to indefinitely postpone the early entry withdrawal deadline, via Shams Charania of The Athletic:
The NCAA and NBA are indefinitely postponing the NBA’s June 3 early entry withdrawal date for draft prospects.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 13, 2020
This was a necessary step as prospects have had no way to judge where they stand in the draft or have workouts to improve their stock and help make a decision. The league is working towards getting things ready for a virtual NBA Draft Combine, but with no concrete date on that either, prospects were in the dark.
Once the NBA makes a decision on whether or not to finish the season and over what timeframe that will happen, everything else will begin to fall into place. As the league handles that, they will be able to decide when and how the draft will take place and all surrounding dates, such as the combine and this early entry withdrawal, will be able to be settled as well.
There simply is no precedence to something like this ever happening. The global pandemic has changed everything throughout the world and the NBA is still working hard to figure out the best course of action.
Unfortunately for those young players who are unsure whether making the leap to the NBA is the right move, this has caused them to remain in the dark, but the league and the NCAA are doing the ideal thing in giving them the necessary time to make this life-changing decision.
