The NBA is said to be making some progress to end the current hiatus, but the news isn’t great for those hopeful for a Sacramento Kings postseason push.
It has been well over two months since there was any action in the NBA due to the COVID-19 shutdown. Despite rumors, there has not been any kind of official timetable set for a return to playing games. Things may have made a positive shift on Wednesday morning, though it looks like the Sacramento Kings will be left out in the cold.
There has been plenty of discussion about how, if at all, the league would handle a return to basketball. The logistics of having every team in a central location makes sense due to the complications and dangers of mass travel, and multiple locations have been discussed. The two sites that have made the most sense are Las Vegas and Orlando.
While there are plenty of arenas and empty hotels dotting the Las Vegas strip, it seems as though the NBA is leaning towards making their return at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando. While this is great news for the NBA as a whole, the plan will likely put an end to the Kings season and late playoff push.
Walt Disney World has begun the early stages of re-working some of their hotel spaces for housing the NBA and their needs. The Wide World of Sports Complex has also had some work done in anticipation of hosting the NBA and possibly MLS, per Disney sources.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) May 20, 2020
The Kings were 3.5 games back of the 8th and final playoff spot when the season was suspended back on March 11th. While it would have been a serious uphill climb for Sacramento to claw their way to their first playoff appearance in 14+ years, it was possible. According to FiveThirtyEight’s prediction models, the Kings had a 12 percent chance of qualifying.
But if the news about the NBA being focused solely on continuing the playoffs and not the regular season, then we can kiss any hopes goodbye. With time running low and options limited, the league would be smart to jump right in to the postseason, which is what people are clamoring for the most. In the interest of not pushing dates back to affect next season and beyond, they’d want to get to the important stuff as quickly as possible.
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