For eight NBA teams, the offseason has officially begun now that the league and the NBPA have both agreed to a 22-team restart plan in Orlando. Among those teams are the Atlanta Hawks, who despite some preseason buzz that they could leap into the playoff conversation in the East this year, were unable to take a leap with a very young roster around first-time All-Star Trae Young this season.
On Tuesday, the Hawks held virtual exit meetings with general manager Travis Schlenk and head coach Lloyd Pierce, in which they discussed the season that was and looked ahead to the offseason transaction period that is still months away in October as well as next season. Schlenk talked about how the Hawks wouldn’t be beholden to drafting based off of positional need no matter where they land in the lottery, which raises eyebrows considering some of the top prospects share some overlap in skills and position with Young, but from a national perspective, the most interesting note was on what he expects the 2020-21 season to look like.
The NBA’s proposal called for an incredibly short offseason for Finals teams, with under a month between the Finals ending on October 12 and training camp beginning on November 10 so they can start the season on December 1. The NBPA was “surprised” by that timetable, and the expectation is that gets pushed back — a Christmas day start has long been an expected target date for the season to return and makes more sense for getting players rest. Whatever the case, as Schlenk told the media via video call Tuesday, he expects a very condensed schedule, with more back-to-backs and four game in five night stretches than we’ve seen recently as the league has worked hard to remove as many of those from the schedule as possible.
Schlenk said that could mean more back-to-backs and sets of four games in five nights for teams next season — things the NBA has actively tried to move away from in recent years. https://t.co/xjJ9dQFcla
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 9, 2020
This, of course, raises concerns for playoff teams that will come off a shortened offseason and then be forced to play a condensed schedule in an effort to finish the season close to on time. The Tokyo Olympics looming in late summer may be one of the reasons for the league pushing to finish its season on time in order to allow for a full USA Basketball training camp and a roster of the best stars, but after such a strange finish to this season and aggressive scheduling next, it wouldn’t surprise many to see a number of players from teams that play deep into this upcoming postseason to withdraw their names from international competition.
Now, for a team like the Hawks looking to make a leap next year or, even more so, the Warriors getting Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson back healthy, this condensed schedule might just play into their hands. More back-to-backs will likely mean lots more strategic resting from those expecting another postseason run and might open up some regular season wins for teams coming off a nine-month layoff who may not need to rest guys as aggressively. All of this will have to be negotiated and it’s hard to see how a December start leads to an 82-game season — 70 seems far more realistic — but whatever the case, expect some rough stretches for your favorite team next year in terms of scheduling.
