Chicago Bulls: NBA season could be on hold until June
More news of the possible delay that could be in place for the 2019-20 Chicago Bulls and NBA season emerged to end the weekend, on March 15.
The news keeps getting worse and worse for the NBA, and the Chicago Bulls, pertaining to the precautions surrounding the novel coronavirus pandemic and containment. The NBA suspended its season originally on March 11, and soon after announced that it would be on hiatus for at least 30 days (that was starting on March 12).
What originally put the 2019-20 NBA regular season on hiatus was the positive COVID-19 testing for the Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert. The NBA played out the March 11 slate of games, and then promptly placed the season on hold before the March 12 schedule could begin.
More news broke from ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski on March 15 that showed that the league could be on hiatus through mid-to-late June in a potential best-case scenario. That came per the CDC’s recommendation that no events be held with more than 50 people in the United States for the next two months.
CDC recommendation of no events of 50-plus people for next two months comes as a number of NBA owners and executives increasingly believe a best case scenario is a mid-to-late June return to play -- with no fans. League's scouting for possible arena dates all the way thru August.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 15, 2020
Apparently the NBA is also scouting out ideas for push the 2019-20 season back all the way through August if arena dates can be found. What this means for the NBA playoffs and/or the rest of the regular season is hard to tell.
With this in mind, another Woj report on Twitter on March 15 showed that the NBA G-League is likely to cancel the rest of its 2019-20 season. The G-League season doesn’t go as long as the NBA playoffs do, so this decision makes a lot of sense.
Reporting with @malika_andrews: NBA teams operating G League franchises expect rest of the minor-league season will soon be cancelled, sources tell ESPN. Regular season runs thru end of March, playoffs into April. Players have been informed they'll be paid thru end of schedule.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 15, 2020
Detroit Pistons‘ Christian Wood has tested positive for coronavirus, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Wood had 30 and 11 rebounds against Rudy Gobert on Saturday night before a career-high 32 on Wednesday.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 15, 2020
Sources say Wood has shown no symptoms and is doing well.
The news does look like it’s going to get worse before it gets better in the NBA landscape. The Athletic reported on March 14 that the third case of COVID-19 showed up for the Detroit Pistons big man Christian Wood. Gobert was the first NBA player to test positive, shortly followed by a teammate of his and star guard Donovan Mitchell.
Next. 2020 NBA Draft Big Board Version 2.0. dark
The Bulls ended their 2019-20 NBA season prior to the hiatus announcement with a 108-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at home on March 10. That gave them a record of 22-43 through 65 games before what could be the end of their 2019-20 season in general.