- The NBA has announced that the 2020-2021 season will officially start on December 22.
- Draft Day will be held on November 18 via videoconferencing to follow health safety protocols for COVID-19.
- NBA betting odds for free agency, the draft, and the NBA Finals are now taking in bets.
NEW YORK – Thursday night saw a vote by the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) that resulted in an approved schedule for the 2020-2021 season of the NBA that is set to begin on December 22.
The schedule consists of 72 games, ten games short of a regular-season schedule, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic still being a factor in decisions being made among sporting organizations. There is no word yet on the final plan and if it includes preseason games but training camps for each team will open on December 1, three weeks before the official tip-off.
Beginning their season at the end of December, the NBA Finals are expected to be done before July 2021 when the Summer Olympics will be in full swing. Normal seasons go from October until April so while this new season is ten games shorter, it will likely span from December through June like that of a regular six-month scheduled timeframe.
“Additional details remain to be negotiated and the NBPA is confident that the parties will reach agreement on these remaining issues relevant to the upcoming season,” read a statement issued by the NBPA.
Additional Issues & Additional Information
The additional issues referenced in the press release by the NBPA relate to financial issues as is usually the case for extended negotiations. Projections show that the league will make around $500 million in revenue over the short-term and around $1 billion for long-term revenue for everyone associated with the NBA.
With that being said, player salaries are being discussed. For the shortened bubble season, the NBA took a loss of $1.5 billion from a year-on-year comparison.
Because the league endured huge financial losses from COVID-19 in 2020, they’re hoping to raise the escrow withholdings and pay players in increments over a period of years so athletes do not have to withstand a full year of lost finances from the Coronavirus.
There is also the option of getting rid of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that has the league and players getting 50-50 of everything made on the game.
This would allow the organizations to move forward with the financial plans presently being discussed. The NBPA and the NBA each would need to give notice to terminate the agreement as they are allowed to do through a clause within the documents that allow for termination in times of crisis and in this case that would be the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Draft Day & Free Agency
NBA Draft Day will be held on Wednesday, November 18 through videoconferencing at the ESPN Headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut. Also, while free agency looks to be enticing, it will be less robust than last year’s list of players.
The biggest free agent out there is Giannis Antetokounmpo who could still sign an extension for five years with the Milwaukee Bucks. But he’s a two-time consecutive MVP and the Bucks do not have the spending cap other teams do that could possibly offer Antetokounmpo more money to leave Milwaukee.
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Other notable names include Fred VanVleet of the Toronto Raptors and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers. Salary cap projections are estimated at $109.1 million for the season. Four teams in the NBA look to have enough wiggle room to get some good free agents with the extra money in their cap reservoir.
Those teams are the Atlanta Hawks, the Charlotte Hornets, the Detroit Pistons, and the New York Knicks and any one of the above players could be calling one of these teams’ home come time for the new season.
Betting Lines For the 2020-2021 NBA Season
Plenty of betting lines are already posted on online sportsbooks like Bovada for the new NBA season. The biggest wagers seeing action are for the MVP category and winner of the NBA Finals.
The top five players listed to win the 2021 NBA MVP all had great seasons in the bubble making any one of them a worthy choice for the title in the new season.
At the top of the leaderboard is Dallas Mavericks’ point guard Luka Doncic (+450) followed by Anthony Davis (+600), Giannis Antetokounmpo (+650), Steph Curry (+650), and LeBron James (+900).
For the future winner of the 2021 NBA Finals, the Lakers are expected to hold onto their Champion status from their 2020 season win.
The top five teams posted to win are the Los Angeles Lakers (+300), the Los Angeles Clippers (+500), the Milwaukee Bucks (+800), the Golden State Warriors (+650), and the Boston Celtics (+1500).
Surprisingly, the Miami Heat didn’t make the cut for the top five despite having made it to the Finals in 2020. If Lakers’ fans or general bettors of the NBA think the Lakers can pull off back-to-back Championship victories, now would be the time to place wagers on them as the odds offer a nice payout that could be at their best right now.
But, if Anthony Davis were to not get resigned by the Lakers, their odds would get substantially longer. The Draft and Free Agency will have a direct effect on all of these team’s NBA Finals Odds.
Christina has been writing for different platforms for years. She has a particular interest in writing about any and all sports-related news. If there is a game on, she’s watching it. She has been writing for USAOnlineSportsbooks since 2019.
