The NBA informed teams Tuesday that the NBA draft lottery has been changed from Aug. 25 to Aug. 20.
The memo, which was obtained by ESPN, said that the NBA draft will be on Oct.16, as had been previously reported.
As the NBA continues to ramp up its restart inside the bubble on the campus of the Walt Disney World Resort, the league continues to move toward the resumption of its offseason. The memo informed teams of the 105 players who received the most votes to be included in the league's annual combine -- a number that will eventually be whittled down to 70.
The combine, which typically takes place in Chicago in mid-May in concert with the draft lottery, still hasn't been officially rescheduled, but the league said in the memo that it is still evaluating potential dates and formats to hold the event.
The league also stressed that teams should still operate under the assumption that college players who entered the draft process will have until Aug. 3 to decide whether to go back to school or forgo their eligibility and remain in the draft. The NCAA had previously announced college players would have either until Aug. 3 or 10 days after the combine -- whichever came first -- to decide. With the combine still not rescheduled, players will have to decide by Aug. 3.
The NBA will begin scrimmages inside the bubble Wednesday -- the first live NBA action since the league was shut down due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on March 11. The first of the seeding games that each of the 22 teams in the restart will play in Orlando will be next Thursday, July 30, when the Utah Jazz play the New Orleans Pelicans and the Los Angeles Lakers face the LA Clippers.
