As people continue to ask when will the NBA return, the league discussed four competition scenarios for a possible restart of the 2019-20 season at the Board of Governors meeting on Friday, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.

 

The NBA is trying to play games again in July or August at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. If games are safe to play again, it’s going to be fascinating to see which return-to-format play the league takes.

Taking the top 16 teams and going straight to the playoffs seems like the most logical solution here so the NBA doesn’t have to take all 30 teams to Disney World. Like Portland Trail Blazers superstar point guard Damian Lillard said, no player is going to be motivated to play in meaningless games when a pandemic is taking place.

Before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to COVID-19, the Milwaukee Bucks had the best record in the NBA and the Los Angeles Lakers were atop the Western Conference standings.

Prior to Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19, the top 16 teams in the NBA were the Bucks, Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Clippers, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Miami Heat, Utah Jazz, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Memphis Grizzlies, Brooklyn Nets and Orlando Magic.

If 20 teams are involved, it would likely be the 16 playoff teams plus the Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento Kings and San Antonio Spurs. If 22 teams are involved, the Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards would be added to the mix:

The NBA is hoping to resume play on July 31.

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