NBA return: Schedule, impact of draft, key dates and other crucial details

The NBA is closing in on a restart after a long hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the NBA return is not yet official, the league's owners approved commissioner Adam Silver's NBA 22 team format to resume the 2019-20 season at Walt Disney World in Orlando on Thursday. The NBA return is now dependent on the NBPA (National Basketball Players Association), whose approval of the NBA 22 team format is likely to be completed by Friday according to reports. While there are still details like the NBA restart schedule to be ironed for the NBA return, here is everything one needs to know about the NBA 22 team format, the NBA playoffs 2020 and the NBA draft date.

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NBA return: The NBA 22 team format

Top eight teams of each conference qualify for the NBA playoffs, which means the NBA return format had been marked out as a 16-team event. But it would have been unfair to the franchises within striking distance of the NBA playoffs 2020 berth, who lost out on anywhere from 13-16 games to stretch their run. With the NBA return likely to scheduled in August, the NBA 22 team format was agreed to provide extra game time for the players to get back into rhythm, while it also gives a chance for teams to mount a successful challenge to make it to the NBA playoffs 2020. There were suggestions of bringing back 16 teams or even all 30, but the league's owners approved the NBA 22 team format proposal by a 29-1 vote. 

TEAM	Remaining matches
BOSTON CELTICS	vs. Bucks, Wizards, Raptors, Nets, Wizards, Blazers, Grizzlies, Heat
BROOKLYN NETS	vs. Clippers, Kings, Wizards, Celtics, Magic, Clippers, Magic, Blazers
DALLAS MAVERICKS	vs. Suns, Clippers, Kings, Blazers, Suns, Rockets, Jazz, Bucks
DENVER NUGGETS	vs. Spurs, Lakers, Clippers, Thunder, Raptors, Heat, Spurs, Thunder
HOUSTON ROCKETS	vs. Lakers, Blazers, Kings, Bucks, Mavericks, Pacers, 76ers, Raptors
INDIANA PACERS	vs. 76ers, Heat, Suns, Magic, Rockets, Kings, Clippers, Lakers
L.A. CLIPPERS	vs. Nets, Pelicans, Mavericks, Nuggets, Suns, Nets, Pacers, Thunder
L.A. LAKERS	vs. Rockets, Nuggets, Jazz, Jazz, Raptors, Pacers, Trail Blazers,* Heat or Magic*
MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES	vs. Blazers, Jazz, Spurs, Thunder, Bucks, Pelicans, Pelicans, Celtics
MIAMI HEAT	vs. Bucks, Pacers, Thunder, Nuggets, Suns, Celtics, Raptors, *Lakers or Trail Blazers*
MILWAUKEE BUCKS	vs. Celtics, Heat, Grizzlies, Wizards, Rockets, Wizards, Mavericks, Raptors
NEW ORLEANS PELICANS	vs. Kings, Jazz, Clippers, Spurs, Grizzlies, Kings, Grizzlies, Magic
OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER	vs. Jazz, Wizards, Grizzlies, Nuggets, Heat, Nuggets, Suns, Clippers
ORLANDO MAGIC	vs. Pacers, Kings, Nets, Nets, Pelicans, 76ers, Raptors, Lakers or Trail Blazers*
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS	vs. Pacers, Wizards, Raptors, Blazers, Suns, Rockets, Magic, Spurs
PHOENIX SUNS	vs. Mavericks, Pacers, Clippers, Mavericks, 76ers, Wizards, Heat, Thunder
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS	vs. Grizzlies, Rockets, Mavericks, 76ers, Celtics, Nets, Lakers,* Heat or Magic*
SACRAMENTO KINGS	vs. Pelicans, Nets, Mavericks, Rockets, Magic, Pelicans, Pacers, Spurs
SAN ANTONIO SPURS	vs. Nuggets, Grizzlies, Pelicans, Jazz, Jazz, Nuggets, Kings, 76ers
TORONTO RAPTORS	vs. 76ers, Celtics, Nuggets, Lakers, Bucks, Rockets, Heat, Magic
UTAH JAZZ	vs. Thunder, Pelicans, Grizzlies, Lakers, Lakers, Spurs, Spurs, Mavericks
WASHINGTON WIZARDS	vs. Celtics, Thunder, 76ers, Nets, Bucks, Celtics, Suns, Bucks

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NBA return: NBA playoffs 2020 and season end

Each of the 22 teams invited to Orlando for NBA return will play eight "seeding" games that will constitute the conclusion of the 2019-20 season. Teams will return to their schedule from the league was suspended in March, and if their opponent is not part of the NBA 22 team format, they have to skip the tie and move to the next. The Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat and the Orlando Magic are the four teams who would be unable to complete eight games in the above-mentioned format, and the league is likely to pit them against each other to complete their NBA return schedule. 

Once each team has played out its remaining 8-game NBA restart schedule, the No 1-7 seeds in each conference, are likely to be locked in. In that case, if the No. 9 seed is within four games of the No. 8 seed, there will be a play-in series for the final spot of the conference. Once the eight seeds in each conference are determined via the mechanisms above, the NBA playoffs 2020 will commence with the traditional 7-game series format.

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NBA return: NBA draft date and other key dates

The NBA 22 team format is likely to create complications for draft picks for the 2020/21 season. The 14 teams that don't make the playoffs will enter the draft's lottery, but the lottery order will be based off the standings as of March 11, when the season was suspended. This means a team participating in the NBA 22 team format in Orlando, cannot fall below a team that wasn't in terms of lottery odds and draft positions cannot be improved by tanking games. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA draft lottery will reportedly be held on August 25, while the NBA draft date is likely to be October 15. Here are the other key dates for the NBA return: 

• June 15: International players return to markets
• June 21: All players report
• June 22: Coronavirus testing begins
• June 30: Beginning of training camps
• July 7: Travel to Orlando
• July 31: Resumption of 2019-20 season 
• August 25: NBA Draft Lottery
• October 12: Game 7 of the NBA Finals (if necessary)
• October 15: NBA Draft 2020/21 Draft
• October 18: Begining of free agency
• November 10: Franchises begin Training camps for 2020-21 season 
• December 1: Opening night for 2020-21 NBA season 

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