Five thoughts on what's next for Celtics and NBA in wake of league suspension

While there are far more important matters at hand nationwide following the suspension of the NBA season due to the coronavirus, plenty of questions have surfaced about what exactly is next for the Celtics and the NBA if/when the season is cleared to resume by health experts. Some perspective on what may lie ahead in the coming weeks and months. 

How long will the season suspension last at a minimum?

Adam Silver spoke on Inside the NBA on Thursday night and indicate a month off will be the minimum for the league as it attempts to assess the situation.

“We don't know enough to be more specific than that,” Silver said of the 30-day minimum suspension. “But we wanted to give direction to our players and teams and fans that this is going to be roughly at least a month.

"But then the question becomes is there a protocol frankly with or without fans in which we can resume play. I think the goal [is] ... what makes sense here without compromising anyone's safety. It's frankly too early to tell."

The question for the NBA here, like any other sports league or business, in general, is when they will get the green light from health experts. It’s hard to imagine them getting a green light on mass gatherings again within a month or two so perhaps it will be done incrementally as one league source suggested with games played to empty arenas while being closely monitored by team medical personnel.

The other factor that will come into play here is how much time is required to ensure players are in adequate shape to perform after a lengthy layoff. For now, there are no group workouts and practices that are authorized through next week. After that, once the quarantine is lifted on affected teams, organizations could be given the green light again to come together as a group. If that happens towards the end of 30 days, it’s possible teams could hit the ground running whenever the schedule resumes. Otherwise, there’s going to need to be some built-in time for players and teams to maintain a playing level before returning to the floor.

What will the Celtics be up to during the league suspension?

All players have been informed that they must remain in the market of the team throughout the suspension. Not only does that help reduce the threat of spreading the coronavirus but it ensures that teams will be able to practice and workout when they are fully cleared to do so. A league source told BSJ that players are being encouraged not to bring in multiple visitors from out of town either during the suspension to stay with them. All Celtics personnel in the traveling party are expected to be tested for the coronavirus this Saturday if they so desire.

Will there definitely be a regular-season when NBA play resumes?

It all comes down to timing. If the suspension rolls into May and June, then the only option for the league may just be to start up a postseason series when play is cleared to resume. The Eastern Conference playoff field is pretty much set after 64 games while the No. 8 seed is the only spot that is truly up for grabs out West (Memphis has a 3.5 game edge). Based on that, there would be little uproar from the outsiders about going with the 16 best teams as things currently stand.

However, jumping straight into a postseason basketball after a potential two-month plus break is not ideal from a play quality and conditioning standpoint. Even a shortened regular season (5-10 games instead of 18) would help be a useful runway for players to get back into playing shape for the grind of a postseason series. Lost regular-season games mean lost paychecks for everyone as well so this is a scenario the league will surely try to avoid if at all possible. The interesting part here will how the league will try to find a way to make a fair regular-season schedule for everyone once plays resumes, especially if the number of games are shortened. Months of prep go into coordinating the schedules of 30 teams and that combined with managing arena availability and travel with the NHL will clearly force some concessions to be made in regards to making the calendar work in the wake of a lengthy postponement.

What type of adjustments could be made to shorten the postseason?

The easiest path would likely be reducing the number of games during some series from best-of-seven to best-of-five. The first round was a best-of-five format until the early 2000s, until the league realized they were throwing away money by missing out on a couple of playoff games from an attendance gate and TV ratings standpoint.

There will probably be some debate on whether shortening playoff series for a round is a better option than just jumping straight into the postseason once the suspension is lifted. However, a five-game first-round series isn’t a sharp departure from NBA history and while it would present a new degree of unpredictability in that round, it would still be considered a fair sample of games.

The other option here would be for the NBA to reduce the number of playoff teams for this season but I can’t imagine that teams across the league would be willing to go with that type of switch to a format.

Could player pay be impacted by the stoppage for this season?

Yes, but only if the season is officially canceled. NBA contracts are guaranteed (for the most part) but there is a clause in the CBA that allowed owners not to pay a percentage of player salaries (depending on the number of games missed) in the case of a world disaster such as an epidemic, war or a natural disaster.

According to Article XXXIX, Section 5 in the CBA, players lose 1/92.6 of their salary for every game missed as a result of a Force Majeure Event, in situations when games are impossible to be held by the league. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, there has been no talk from the league with the player’s union on this provision but it obviously could come into play if the league does not get the green light to resume this summer.

In the meantime, Shams Charania reported today that the league and players union will enter a moratorium agreement to essentially freeze all league business that is delayed by the suspension. With so many player contracts dictated by the NBA calendar, this essentially pushes everything back as needed for contracts, trades etc, to ensure it can be adjusted to whatever the new NBA calendar will be.