Cavs not part of NBA’s plan to resume season

The NBA’s plan to resume the 2019-20 season does not include the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN is reporting the NBA Board of Governors is expected on June 4 to approve a plan to restart the season at the end of July or early August with 22 teams playing at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla.

The plan would have 13 Western Conference teams and the top nine teams in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers, 19-46 when Commissioner Adam Silver suspended the NBA season on March 12 because of the novel coronavirus, have the worst record in the East and the second-worst record in the NBA behind the 15-50 Golden State Warriors.

The Atlanta Hawks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons along with the Cavs and Warriors are left out of the NBA’s restart plan.

The plan has the top eight teams in each conference playing (the teams in current playoff position) plus six the teams within six games of the eighth seed in each conference. The reason for the imbalance with four more Western Conference teams qualifying for the restart of the season is the 13th team in the West, the Phoenix Suns at 26-39, have a better record than all but eight teams in the East.

The teams would play eight regular season games to determine playoff seeding and then stage the playoffs in Orlando.

The league has set protocols for novel coronavirus testing to help insure player safety.

This is not unexpected, but it isn’t the outcome Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff wanted.

“Everybody wants to see a champion,” Bickerstaff said May 6 on a Zoom conference. “Safety first, but if it’s possible, I think it’s worth (resuming the season).

“With our guys in particular, any minute we can get working with each other is beneficial to us. Eleven games is not enough. We were heading in the right direction. I truly believe that. Just the opportunity to be around our guys is something we miss. The conversations we have, the laughs we get, those are things that are important to us as we try to build this thing and head it in the right direction for the future.”

John Beilein resigned as head coach at the All-Star break when the Cavaliers were 14-40. They played with more energy and focus after Bickerstaff took over and were 5-6 after the coaching change.

General Manager Koby Altman can turn his attention to the draft and offseason if the Cavaliers’ season truly has ended.

No date has been set for the NBA draft lottery, so all Altman knows for sure is the Cavs will be selecting anywhere from first to sixth in the first round.

Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova and Ante Zizic will be unrestricted free agents when the offseason begins.