NBA Rumors: 2020 Free Agency Could be Pushed Back From October

At the moment, the NBA plans to open up the 2020 Free Agency period on October 18, 2020. Typically, Free Agency occurs in early July but as we know, this year's offseason will be anything but typical. Back in March, when COVID-19 shut the NBA down, the NBA's future schedule was uncertain.

The NBA Draft Lottery, which typically takes place in May, with the actual Draft itself happening in June will occur on Thursday, August 20, 2020, as the league is in the midst of a late-summer playoff run.

As for the Draft and Free Agency, the NBA had plans to fire them both up in October as soon as the NBA Finals conclude. While there's a schedule set, it sounds like nothing is for sure right now. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, some rumors around the NBA's campus down in Orlando indicate that Free Agency could get pushed back.

"In team meetings and conversations at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, the National Basketball Players Association has been preparing its membership for the likelihood that the start of free agency in mid-October could be pushed back several weeks, sources told ESPN."

"Because of the uncertainty about next season's projected league revenues, a delay to the Oct. 18 start of free agency would give the NBA and NBPA a chance to better formulate the parameters of the 2020-21 salary cap and luxury tax thresholds."

While Wojnarowski's report specifically focuses on Free Agency, he also hinted at the idea of the NBA Draft and the start of the 2020-2021 season getting pushed back as well. The chances of the Draft getting pushed back seem less likely to happen, but the start of next season getting pushed back does seem like a possibility as the NBA wants to get fans back in the seats for next year. December is the targeted month, but according to Wojnarowski, the NBA could be willing to wait until January or even February to start again.

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