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How Will the NBA Delayed Season Affect Events to Follow?

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We still don't know how the remainder of the NBA season will play out, but what about the events following the season as well, including the NBA draft? The NBA Lottery and Draft have been pushed back indefinitely. 

SI's Robin Lundberg is joined by Basketball writer Jeremy Woo to discuss how the suspended NBA season will affect the lottery, draft, NCAA, and G-League.

Read the full transcript below:

Robin Lundberg:  I'm joined by our Jeremy Woo. Jeremy, how do you expect the draft to be impacted by the resumption of the NBA?

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Jeremy Woo: Well, from a calendar standpoint, we're looking at August for the lottery and October for the draft. So really, there are four more months, which is a long time. I think they're hoping they can squeeze the combine in September. Based on what I'm told, what that will look like, probably not so much on the court. Probably the focus will be more on doing medical athletic testing, centralizing that information for teams. As far as the NCAA deadline, college prospects have until August 3rd is the most likely deadline. It's either that or 10 days after the combine, which will take place after that. So August 3rd, a little more time for these guys. I think one thing to keep in mind is the timeline factor. The college season hopefully will start on time, but we know that the next NBA season won't start until probably December at the earliest, which means the G League will probably start at the top of 2021. So, if you're a fringe prospect and you're thinking about whether to stay or go, you're looking at a long layoff in between March, when college basketball ended, and the start of potentially your pro season. So, these are really tough decisions for these guys, and there is still so much that needs to play out.

Robin Lundberg: How much is the scouting and workout aspect been impacted because, generally, teams would have players in; Obviously, they would've seen the tournament. Is it a whole new ballgame altogether?

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Jeremy Woo: In some ways, yes, in some ways no. Teams have been doing a lot of video reviews, probably more than usual, in terms of going back and watching film. Luckily, all that is available now with technology. So, it's very easy at least to do the film component. Teams have been doing interviews with prospects. I think some of the higher rank guys are probably waiting to do these interviews until they sort of know who's picking where. The draft order itself isn't even set, but a lot of this is intel. In some ways, it's probably better that there's less noise in terms of information that might be distracting from what a bachelor player does. But I think there's still hope that maybe they'll be able to do some type of centralized workouts. You know, as cities start to open up, teams can go to, say, L.A. or Atlanta or Chicago or somewhere central and be able to see at least some live stuff. So, all that is still really fluid. Nothing's been set in stone, but there is still a long way to go.

Robin Lundberg: It'll be interesting to see both how the NBA season plays out and the draft process as well. Jeremy, appreciate your time as always. 

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