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The coronavirus is already impacting the NBA beyond the remainder of the 2019-20 season, and it might now change how teams draft prospects next year.
Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated reported that “at least a third” of NBA teams have removed their scouts from conference tournaments, while other teams have made traveling optional.
At least a third of NBA teams have now pulled scouts from the road due to coronavirus concerns, per league sources. Some teams have made travel optional, while others remain at conference tournaments. There's a growing sense the predraft process could be majorly impacted.
— Jeremy Woo (@JeremyWoo) March 11, 2020
This is especially pertinent because conference tournaments may have been one of the last chances for teams to watch draft hopefuls play in a game setting.
The NCAA announced on Wednesday afternoon that both the men's and women's tournaments would be played behind closed doors, with only “essential staff and limited family” personnel able to attend the games. Naturally, this will prohibit scouts from watching some of the best players in college basketball, a number of whom will enter the NBA Draft this summer.
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In essence, by pulling scouts, a number of teams are willingly restricting their scouting to just the NBA Draft Combine and individual workouts.
Then again, the NBA is having a hard enough time deciding how best to combat the coronavirus while still playing out the remaining schedule.
There is an increasing chance league officials will decide on a solution similar to that of the NCAA: play games behind close doors. Other alternatives — like pushing the entire league schedule back at least a month — are also on the table, though they could have ramifications on things like the Olympic Games and the offseason schedule.
Regardless, many teams could be operating with limited knowledge by the time of the draft.
