With the NBA having suspended its season in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, professional basketball in the United States is in a state of flux. We don’t know for certain if the 2019-20 season will resume, or if we’ll have a postseason at any point. For that matter, we don’t know when the 2020-21 season might start up either, with various suggestions for fairly dramatic overhauls of the NBA calendar making the rounds online. Commissioner Adam Silver recently went public with a few scenarios for a possible return to action — but the truth is that right now we just don’t know what to expect.
Somewhat lost in the confusion of an NBA season halted in its tracks though, is what’s going to happen to the upcoming draft. Typically, the NBA Draft is held in June, just after the Finals and before free agency. But given the current scheduling turmoil and uncertainty, the prospective draft entrants can’t even participate in a combine or team workouts as usual. So, will the draft be pushed back? Could it be held in June regardless of what’s going on with the ’19-’20 season? And most importantly to many fans, how can you assess the incoming class and likely draft action with virtually none of the typical build-up taking place?
For those who take an interest in this part of the annual NBA calendar, we have a few suggestions for how to prepare.
Specifically, sources for betting in New Jersey may be the best places to look. The Garden State has been the first and most active in embracing the gambling activity that a court ruling enabled U.S. states to embrace back in 2018. As a result, New Jersey now has a sizeable number of online casinos and sportsbook apps through which you can see odds listings for any number of sports-related activities.
As of this writing, these betting platforms are temporarily light on NBA information, for the most part. With the season having more or less evaporated into thin air, you won’t see the typical night-to-night betting options, odds on conference finalists, and so on. However, as we inch closer to the summer — and hopefully gain more clarity about what’s next for the league — you can rest assured that some of these New Jersey bookmakers will begin to post odds for top NBA draft picks. And for those unfamiliar with the betting industry we should point out that these odds aren’t chosen via guesswork. Sportsbooks make their listings by way of analysis of the best information and data available, and while this doesn’t mean they’ll exactly project the draft, they may be more reliable than some of the typical write-ups this year.
The trouble, naturally, is figuring out which players to focus on. However, while we just noted that full draft analyses might be somewhat light on information this year, you can still get a feel for a general class of players being considered toward the top. The aforementioned betting odds will likely provide the clearest picture in time, but for now overarching mock draft boards will give you a few names to focus on. Players like Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, and Obi Toppin can make for a nice start. Plenty of highlights, at the very least, are available for all of them.
In the NBA, the bottom 14 teams comprise the lottery, and don’t necessarily make selections in order of worst to best record. For now though, that’s the only appropriate way to think of the draft order. Strictly speaking, order by record (with the worst team picking first) is the most mathematically likely result of the weighted lottery drawing. So for the time being, accepting the standings as they are will give you the most accurate order in which to consider picks.
This is uncharted territory for the NBA, and by extension for the draft. In a way though, focusing on this aspect of the offseason can be comforting. Right now, just about the only thing we know for sure is that one way or another, the 2020 draft will be held (even if it’s not a live event, as it normally would be). Hopefully the tips above can help you get a jump on preparing for it.
Somewhat lost in the confusion of an NBA season halted in its tracks though, is what’s going to happen to the upcoming draft. Typically, the NBA Draft is held in June, just after the Finals and before free agency. But given the current scheduling turmoil and uncertainty, the prospective draft entrants can’t even participate in a combine or team workouts as usual. So, will the draft be pushed back? Could it be held in June regardless of what’s going on with the ’19-’20 season? And most importantly to many fans, how can you assess the incoming class and likely draft action with virtually none of the typical build-up taking place?
For those who take an interest in this part of the annual NBA calendar, we have a few suggestions for how to prepare.
Monitor the Betting Markets
Usually around this time of year sports sites would begin to fill up with mock drafts and detailed breakdowns of expected picks. They still will, but this time there will be less information to go around — meaning the mock drafts and such might not be quite as valuable. So as a primary source for draft speculation, you might consider turning to the brand new U.S. betting markets instead.Specifically, sources for betting in New Jersey may be the best places to look. The Garden State has been the first and most active in embracing the gambling activity that a court ruling enabled U.S. states to embrace back in 2018. As a result, New Jersey now has a sizeable number of online casinos and sportsbook apps through which you can see odds listings for any number of sports-related activities.
As of this writing, these betting platforms are temporarily light on NBA information, for the most part. With the season having more or less evaporated into thin air, you won’t see the typical night-to-night betting options, odds on conference finalists, and so on. However, as we inch closer to the summer — and hopefully gain more clarity about what’s next for the league — you can rest assured that some of these New Jersey bookmakers will begin to post odds for top NBA draft picks. And for those unfamiliar with the betting industry we should point out that these odds aren’t chosen via guesswork. Sportsbooks make their listings by way of analysis of the best information and data available, and while this doesn’t mean they’ll exactly project the draft, they may be more reliable than some of the typical write-ups this year.
Watch the Top Prospects Yourself
With no March Madness and presumably no draft combine, there are going to be fewer last-minute ways to expose yourself to the top-tier prospects for the 2020 draft. So this year, if you want to have a good feel for the players, try tracking down their games and highlights yourself. Many may not realize that you can often find entire college basketball games on YouTube — to say nothing of extensive highlights of virtually every game played between major teams throughout the season.The trouble, naturally, is figuring out which players to focus on. However, while we just noted that full draft analyses might be somewhat light on information this year, you can still get a feel for a general class of players being considered toward the top. The aforementioned betting odds will likely provide the clearest picture in time, but for now overarching mock draft boards will give you a few names to focus on. Players like Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, and Obi Toppin can make for a nice start. Plenty of highlights, at the very least, are available for all of them.
Accept the Current Lottery Order
Part of the reason 2020 draft speculation may seem strange at this point is that we don’t know for certain that the standings have been finalized, and we have no idea when the draft lottery will be held. That said, it’s beginning to seem increasingly unlikely that we’ll see any significant portion of the remaining regular season played out, and for that reason it may be wise to accept the current lottery order when doing your own draft analysis.In the NBA, the bottom 14 teams comprise the lottery, and don’t necessarily make selections in order of worst to best record. For now though, that’s the only appropriate way to think of the draft order. Strictly speaking, order by record (with the worst team picking first) is the most mathematically likely result of the weighted lottery drawing. So for the time being, accepting the standings as they are will give you the most accurate order in which to consider picks.
This is uncharted territory for the NBA, and by extension for the draft. In a way though, focusing on this aspect of the offseason can be comforting. Right now, just about the only thing we know for sure is that one way or another, the 2020 draft will be held (even if it’s not a live event, as it normally would be). Hopefully the tips above can help you get a jump on preparing for it.
