NBA Rumors: Target Dates, Number Of Games For Preseason Unveiled

The NBA schedule continues to come into focus.

We’ve known for a little bit now that the league would be starting the upcoming campaign on Dec. 22. Filling in the blanks between now and then was a little less concrete.

But there now is a bit more clarity, as The Athletic’s Shams Charania on Saturday shared the target dates for the preseason, as well as the number of games teams will be playing.

Sources: The NBA is targeting Dec. 11-19 for 2020-21 preseason and teams have the option of requesting three or four games. Each team must host at least one home game.

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 14, 2020

So, if you’re keeping score at home, here’s how things are looking right now.

Nov. 18 — NBA Draft
Nov. 20 — Free agency opens
Nov. 22 — Players officially can begin signing
Dec. 1 — Start of training camp
Dec. 11 — Start of preseason games
Dec. 22 — Start of regular season

This actually isn’t too far off from how things would shake out in a regular, non-COVID-19 impacted season, minus the truncated gap in time between the opening of free agency and the start of training camps.

Ordinarily, teams only play around four preseason games, and training camp lasts somewhere in the neighborhood of three to four weeks.