NBA News and Notes: Could NBA Draft Be Postponed?

As the world continues to stay home, the NBA has lost another week of what would have been their season. The coronavirus continues to play havoc with professional sports, and it remains to be seen when (or if) the NBA will return to some normalcy.
Potential scenarios continue to be discussed in hopes of salvaging a season, but the truth is no one truly knows when the sporting world will resume. Despite this doubt, there has still been news around the league ranging from front office hires to rifts between players. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from the last week:
Will The Draft Be Pushed Back?
As it stands right now, the NBA Draft is set to be held on June 25. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Jonathan Givony, it appears that team officials would like to push that date back. The feeling is that many teams are hoping the league will push the draft back until at least Aug. 1.
This push is mostly in the hopes that teams would still be able to do some of their pre-draft preparation (i.e., in-person workouts, medical evaluations, etc.). With the league having shut down, teams have been somewhat stifled, as the league has restricted them to watching film from before the NCAA and NBA shut down. Still, with the unusual circumstances of the sporting world as we know it, it would not be surprising to see the NBA adjust their draft date.
Bulls Get Their Guy
The Chicago Bulls made the decision to move on from John Paxson and Gar Forman as their heads of basketball operations, and it did not take them long to find a replacement. The Chicago Bulls appear poised to bring in Arturas Karnisovas to fill their Vice President of basketball operations.
Karnisovas is currently the general manager of the Denver Nuggets. In addition to this role, he has also been part of basketball operations in the league office and has served for an international scout for the Houston Rockets. His diverse background and success made him very appealing to the Bulls.
It appears that he is moving swiftly to fill other executive positions underneath of him. For instance, reports from Shams Charania of The Athletic indicate that the Bulls will be hiring the New Orleans Pelicans executive J.J. Polk to serve as an assistant general manager.
There have also been reports by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that indicate he may bring Pat Connelly along with him from the Nuggets. Connelly has served as the Nuggets director of pro personnel.
One last tidbit has indicated that Karnisovas wants to create a diverse front office and is expected to hire a minority for the position of general manager.
One person who may not be in the fold for the future is head coach Jim Boylen. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported that Boylen is concerned he might not be given the opportunity to coach next year and hopes to have a sit down with Karnisovas.
Frankly, it would not be surprising if the Bulls extended their turnover form the front office to the coaching staff as well to truly get a fresh start.
Mitchell, Gobert Continue To Butt Heads
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, it appears that the relationship between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert may still be on the fritz. Mitchell criticized Gobert’s attitude and actions as it pertains to the coronavirus.
Gobert infamously was the first person in the NBA to test positive, essentially causing a halt to the NBA season. Mitchell later tested positive as well.
The Utah Jazz are hoping that the two can reconcile as they lay the foundation of a formidable lineup in the Western Conference. Before the season was suspended, Gobert was averaging 15.1 points, 13.7 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 69.8% from the field.
For Mitchell, he was averaging 24.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game while shooting 45.3% from the field and 36.4% from three-point range.