Though things are going great so far for the NBA inside the Orlando bubble, the league still has to figure out and finalize plans for the offseason and next season. One of the biggest parts of every offseason is the NBA Draft.
Of course, before that can place, the NBA Draft Lottery must happen to decide the order for those teams who fail to make the playoffs. Finding out who will have the first pick in the draft is a significant moment and in recent years the Los Angeles Lakers have been closely heavily involved.
This season, expectations are completely different with the Lakers not taking part in the lottery for the first time since 2013. But the league finally has a date as the offseason is beginning to take shape.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the 2020 NBA Draft Lottery on Aug. 20 and, as many probably would have guessed, it will be done so virtually:
The NBA plans to hold the Aug. 20 Draft Lottery virtually, with 14 team representatives appearing via virtual display, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) August 10, 2020
The NBA will always take every possible precaution in everything that they do at this time so the Lottery being held virtually really should come as no surprise. The Draft itself will likely be held in the same fashion which is unfortunate for those prospects who won’t get that moment to walk across the stage and shake hands with the Commissioner.
The NBA Draft will be held in October, after the 2020 season is completed, and the Lakers will definitely be a part of that as they do still hold their first-round pick. That will obviously be at the end of the first round, but the franchise has proven on numerous occasions that they can find big time contributors in that range and they will look to do so again.
In terms of the lottery itself and the top pick, the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland Cavaliers and Minnesota Timberwolves have equal 14% chances at landing the first overall selection with the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons rounding out the top-5.
NBA to recognize All-Seeding Games Teams, Top Player
The NBA announced they will recognize the top performers within the restart as there will be All-Seeding Games Teams as well as a Player of the Seeding Games.
Voting on the honors will take place in the same fashion as the league’s normal end of the year awards with the media selecting both an All-Seeding First and Second Teams, along with the Player of the Seeding Games.
All of it will be revealed on Saturday, Aug. 15, ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference play-in.
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