Sixers, NBPA Vote to Begin 2020-2021 Season in December

The Philadelphia 76ers will tip-off their 2020-2021 season in late December. According to ESPN's NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the National Basketball Players Association's board of representatives discussed the league's proposed plan in a conference call on Thursday night and voted to begin the season next month.

"The NBPA's board of player representatives voted to approve the pre-Christmas start on a conference call with NBPA executive director Michele Roberts," Wojnarowski reported on Thursday. The pre-Christmas start plan will include a 72-game schedule with the season beginning on December 22. While the NBA's plan approved, Roberts put out a statement mentioning there are still things that need to be negotiated.

"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."

Per Wojnarowski, the league and players are negotiating financial terms of an amended collective bargaining agreement -- and those talks are expected to go into next week. However, it seems the December 22 start date is fully approved and here to stay.

Now that the NBA has clarity on next season's tip-off, the league can quickly put together the off-season timeline. As we know, the 2020 NBA Draft is set to take place on November 18. Before, when the draft was scheduled for October, free agency was scheduled to occur a few days after.

When the draft was pushed back to November, the league didn't set a new free agency date. While we still wait for an official date, it seems the league is planning for a quick turnaround after the draft -- and the free agency doors will open up just days after the draft.

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