How NBA start date may slow Warriors

Nearly 230 days have passed since the Warriors’ last game, a stretch defined by anxiety and uncertainty. The waiting might soon end.

During the NBA board of governors’ call Friday, league officials announced a plan that includes a Dec. 22 start date for next season, Warriors owner Joe Lacob confirmed to The Chronicle. It would feature a 72game regular season, a playin tournament and likely no AllStar Game or AllStar Weekend. The timetable would allow the NBA to finish before the Summer Olympics.

According to multiple reports, the league hopes to move quickly to complete negotiations with the players’ union and implement the plan. In the meantime, the Warriors — like the other 29 teams — must come to terms with what a late December start would mean in terms of rosterbuilding, finances and X’s and O’s.

A look at questions the proposal raises:

How would a late December start affect the Warriors’ finances?

Before news Friday that the NBA aims to start before Christmas, many league executives assumed next season would begin between January and March to let teams maxiANALYSIS

mize the number of fans allowed at games. But given less than optimistic public health projections for the virus’ spread, the NBA is hardly convinced it can safely return fans to arenas in the next few months, according to a league source.

Having to go a good chunk of 202021 without people in the stands would severely hurt franchises’ bottom lines. Ticket sales account for roughly 40% of the NBA’s revenue. Last season, when the coronavirus forced the Warriors to cancel their final seven home games, they missed out on at least $ 25 million at the gate.

With the privately financed Chase Center indefinitely closed to the public, Golden State is also losing out on revenue from concerts and other events. The good news for the Warriors and other NBA franchises is that a pre-Christmas start would allow the league’s television partners — ESPN and Turner — to get more out of their broadcast partnerships.

This TV revenue, combined with some $ 2 billion in sponsorship deals, should help the Warriors avoid layoffs. The big question will be how much the financial fallout from the pandemic affects the 202021 salary cap.

The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association use projected revenue to set the salary cap. Reports indicate that the league and union have been working to make the necessary financial concessions on the luxury tax thresholds and the salary cap to account for lost revenue.

Still, any dip in the salary cap could leave the Warriors — one of the franchises expected to incur the luxury tax next season — to face burdensome bills. League sources have put the decline in the cap at anywhere between $ 3 million and $ 12 million. If the cap dropped $ 10 million, the Warriors could have to pay $ 15 million more in taxes than on an entire roster expected to be in the $ 180 million range.

Is it realistic to have fans at Chase Center next season?

Earlier this week, the state announced that limited capacity would be allowed for outdoor professional sports, but the 49ers did not receive the OK from Santa Clara County to begin selling tickets.

This underscores how tricky it could be for the Warriors to allow fans in Chase Center, an indoor facility that seats 18,064 for basketball games. San Francisco officials would need to approve any plan. According to a source, such a plan would likely have to include extensive rapid coronavirus testing to have a chance.

Though the availability of tests has improved significantly, the Warriors would face a slew of logistical challenges to fill even a fraction of Chase Center. Can Golden State obtain enough tests within such a short time? Would those tests be quick and reliable? What would the Warriors do if a coronavirus outbreak were traced to one of their games?

This is a lot to navigate, and the NBA season could start within the next two months. But if the Warriors proved anything when they overcame a host of obstacles to build the $ 1.4 billion Chase Center and bring San Francisco its first stateoftheart multipurpose arena, it’s that they aren’t going to shy away from a challenge, no matter how overwhelming it might appear.

Would this timetable change how Golden State approaches roster building?

A preChristmas start date would make life difficult on the front office. Golden State is preparing for an important draft on Nov. 18, in which it has three picks: Nos. 2, 48 and 51. Then, beginning around Dec. 1, the Warriors are expected to start plugging holes — wing depth, perimeter defense, center — in free agency.

Golden State must decide whether to use its $ 17.2 million traded player exception. If the NBA indeed opens its season before Christmas, teams will have to hold abbreviated training camps akin to the postlockout versions in 1999 and 2011.

Financial considerations aside, the Warriors might be hesitant to make huge roster moves when they know players will have limited time to acclimate to one another. This is a team that already must work Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry back into the rotation after those two missed most or all of last season with injuries.

Golden State will likely still do whatever it can to maximize what’s left of its aging core’s prime — even if that means having to build a rhythm with players well into next season, according to a league source. Lacob has long shown a willingness to spend big in the name of winning big.

How could starting in late December affect players recovering from injury?

A limited training camp could really hurt Thompson, Curry and Draymond Green. Thompson missed all of last season with a torn ACL he suffered in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals. Curry was limited to just five games due to injuries, and Green endured a number of minor ailments while playing 43 games with underwhelming results.

Though Thompson participated in the Warriors’ recent minicamp in San Francisco, he sat out much of the scrimmage portions. Curry and Green missed the minicamp for family reasons.

This all puts the onus on Golden State to have a productive training camp. In those practices, the Warriors will want to get Andrew Wiggins and other newcomers comfortable playing with the franchise’s three most important players.

But if training camp is abbreviated, Golden State will likely have to spend the first couple months of next season figuring out lineups and getting players acclimated. This adjustment period could hurt the Warriors’ chances at vaulting back to title contention. A 72game regular season would be 10 games fewer than Golden State is accustomed to, which means a smaller margin for error.

Ultimately, should the Warriors be rooting for this new timetable?

It depends on what Golden State prioritizes. If the Warriors want to get as many fans in the seats as possible, they might prefer waiting until January, February or March.

But if next season does open before Christmas, Golden State figures to have a competitive advantage over teams that played in the Orlando bubble or deep into the playoffs. As one of the eight franchises not invited to Orlando, the Warriors haven’t played a competitive game since mid-March and are well rested. There might be something to be said for opening the season sooner rather than later.