NBA Rumors: Latest Details on 2020-2021 Season Plans

The COVID-19 pandemic has made the current state of the NBA anything but typical. Before this past March, everything was going as planned for the 2019-2020 NBA season. Once Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus, though, Adam Silver was left with no choice but to shut the league down.

After months of going back and forth on resuming the season or canceling it entirely, the NBA came up with a way to wrap up the season with proper closure by creating a bubble campus down in Florida. The bubble environment has been nearly perfect as the season wraps up -- but everybody who joined the bubble went in with the mindset believing it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Now, the NBA has to figure out how to play the 2020-2021 season without going down the same route as the restart. Initially, it was believed the offseason would take place almost immediately after this year's NBA Finals with the draft on Oct. 16 with free agency firing up just two days after on Oct. 18. Then, by Dec. 1, the NBA was hopeful to tip-off the new year as usual.

At this point, everything is getting pushed back. Earlier this week, it was reported the NBA draft is getting re-scheduled. While there's no official date in place, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Nov. 18 is the target date. Being that the draft and free agency are getting pushed back -- so will the season's start.

According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the 2020-2021 season won't start any earlier than Dec. 25. Many were under the assumption that if that's the case, then the season will likely be cut short. 

However, Adam Silver and the NBA are aiming for a standard 82-game season. Instead of having teams travel so frequently and so far, though, the league is shooting for having in-market competitions and reduced travel, per Charania's latest report on Friday. While the Dec. 25 start date is another long-shot plan, the NBA is working hard on getting schedules back to normal and fans back in the stands. Once the NBA has an idea of next season's structure, the NBA will offer eight weeks' notice to organizations so teams can get prepared for the new year.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_