NBA Leaks Restart and Draft/Lottery Dates, After Owners Approve Return Format

By Eric Strack |

Updated: Jun 4, 2020

Karl-Anthony Towns has not won a game since Thanksgiving. (Carlos Gonzalez/Star Tribune via Getty Images)

The National Basketball League is officially returning, as the country looks to start rebounding from the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, most of the NBA is returning. The Minnesota Timberwolves won’t be. They will be watching from home, preparing for the NBA Draft (and crossing fingers for the lottery), as the best 22 teams compete together at Disney World.

Source: 29-1 vote https://t.co/NT87g6EENp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020

Sources: Additional dates NBA informed on Board of Governors call:
– June 15, players located internationally return to market
– June 21, all players report
– June 22, coronavirus testing begins https://t.co/kFZajb3Ioz
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 4, 2020

Who needs the Timberwolves to be jacked up about the NBA returning? That echoes the sentiment around the country, for all bad teams, I’d guess. Hell, I’m watching Korean baseball every morning from 5-7 AM.

As much as I’d prefer the Wolves returning over any other team, it doesn’t make sense in the long-term. Who knows what will happen during a historic NBA return like the one we’re about to see. The bottom of the NBA Draft Lottery was so tightly packed before play was halted, that picking up a few wins to end the season, could be detrimental to the future of this team.

KAT and D-Lo will have to pull up Twitter with the rest of us, as these first games start to tip-off. I’ll bet they still smile too. Sure, they would rather be playing.. but just the idea of life getting (somewhat) back to normal, will put an extra pep in everyone’s step.

Draft Dates Also Leaked

There will be plenty of souls who are kept busy throughout the Minnesota front office, though. The NBA Draft and the Lottery that precedes it, are on the verge of being announced. It’s clear, owners and GM’s don’t want to deal with holding workouts and interviews in the virtual world.

Setting everything out until August/October is about as far out as they could push it. Training Camp for the 2020-21 season is rumored to start in November, according to Shams’ tweet above.

NBA has set an August 25 Draft Lottery and October 15 Draft, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020

This is a NBA Draft that Rosas and Co. cannot miss. This will hopefully be the last season they are picking out of the lottery… so a mistake isn’t an option. That’s why trading their top-3 pick might be the best bet.

Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan