Report: NBA teams expect rest of G League season to be cancelled
Mar 15, 2020, 5:43 PM | Updated: 6:41 pm
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Commissioner Adam Silver postponed NBA games for at least 30 days on Thursday with the hope that play can eventually resume, but there may not be the same optimism for the G League.
NBA teams expect that their G League affiliates will not play again this season, according to ESPN reporters Adrian Wojnarowski and Malika Andrews.
The Northern Arizona Suns’ original season schedule goes through this month with their final game on March 28.
G League Playoffs were scheduled to begin in April.
If games are canceled, players will be paid through the end of the season, according to Wojnarowski.
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
Part of the reason for cancellation instead of postponement is due to the G League’s use of commercial flights and the “financial strain” they put on organizations, according to Andrews.
This would put an end to a rough NAZ Suns season, in which Phoenix’s affiliate has gone 8-34 and lost its last 14 games.
Jared Harper, an undrafted free agent who signed a two-way contract with the Suns following Summer League, led the team with 20.8 points and 5.7 assists in 29.8 minutes per game until he was released last week, according to The Athletic’s Gina Mizell.
On Thursday, the NAZ Suns released a statement:
Last night, the NBA and the NBA G League suspended game play for both leagues until further notice after a player on the Utah Jazz preliminarily tested positive for COVID-19.
We are working closely with the NBA G League on next steps and will provide updates to Suns fans, partners, SixthMan season ticket members and all stakeholders affected by the postponement as it becomes available.
This is an unprecedented and fluid situation, so we ask for everyone’s patience and understanding as we sort through this process.
As for the NBA itself, ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski tweeted Sunday that NBA executives “increasingly believe a best case scenario is a mid-to-late June return to play — with no fans.”
