Several NBA teams have united and encouraged the league to push back the date of the NBA draft from June 25 until at least August 1, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony.
Team executives in part of the movement reportedly told ESPN that pushing back the date of the draft at least 37 days will allow franchises to establish a plan of drafting players with potential hurdles, because due to the COVID-19 outbreak, in-person workouts, interviews and medical evaluations have been prohibited until further notice to follow social distancing guidelines.
According to memo released to ESPN, NBA teams can only conduct virtual interviews, but can only speak to each player for a maximum of four hours. NBA teams are also not allowed to watch live or recorded videos of recent player workouts. Teams can only study film of game or team practice sessions before the NBA suspended its season.
If the NBA decides to push back the date of the draft until August, this could impact players who have declared. Players must enter their name into the draft pool 60 days prior to the draft and the current deadline for early entry players is April 21.
Arizona Wildcats freshmen Nico Mannion and Zeke Nnaji have declared for the NBA draft and are both projected to be first-round picks. Fellow UA freshman Josh Green has yet to declare for the draft, but is expected to enter his name and is also expected to land in the first round.
Decisions regarding the NBA calendar won't be made by commissioner Adam Silver until May 1, per ESPN.
