Report: NBA board likely to approve Silver's restart plan

According to the report, "numerous members" of the Board of Governors have
said that from a group of return-to-play plans, support is growing for one
that would see 22 teams play at Disney's ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex
near Orlando.

On a call among the Board of Governors on Friday, "an overwhelming majority"
of owners indicated they would approve a plan, ESPN reported. In order to
proceed, any plan would need a three-fourths margin to be approved.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported earlier Friday that Silver informed the
Board that a target date for the resumption of play is July 31.

According to the ESPN report, among the likely specific of Silver's proposed
plan are:

--There would be regular-season and play-in games to determine playoff spots
in the Eastern and Western Conference.

--Teams that were in a playoff position or within six games of the No. 8 seed
when play suspended March 11 would participate.

"We are lining up behind him on this," an owner told ESPN. "The posturing will
end. Nothing is going to be perfect for everyone."

ESPN reported that only one of the four plans discussed Friday is believed to
be entirely out of the running -- to bring all 30 teams back to play.

Portland's Damien Lillard said earlier this week he would not play if the NBA
had teams play only a handful of games and the Trail Blazers' had no shot at
making the playoffs. Portland is currently in ninth place in the Western
Conference, 3 1/2 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the final playoff
slot.

Under the reported plan, the Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans, Sacramento
Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Phoenix Suns and Washington Wizards would be the
teams currently outside the playoffs who would compete in Orlando.

There is also a plan for 20 teams to take part, according to ESPN, which added
that discussions have focused on a series of regular-season games and a
play-in tournament to set the final playoff field.

The NBA hiatus began on March 11, when Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested
positive for the coronavirus.

A typical timeline of the NBA season would involve the conference finals
before the NBA Finals, which began May 30 last season. However, it is
uncertain if the league will still break down the postseason by conferences or
if all playoff teams will be ranked from first to last based on overall
record.

--Field Level Media