Dallas Mavericks: All the latest on NBA restart plans

NBA planning restart: Dallas Mavericks will be back

Dallas Mavericks fans and players are yearning for basketball to return. The NBA suspended play on March 11 because of the novel coronavirus. There has not even been a practice since that date.

The league appears to be getting closer to bringing basketball back. There was a lot of news and possibilities thrown around over the long weekend. Here is a look at what we’ve seen and know so far.

Barkley says NBA “100 percent” will return

Charles Barkley on ESPN’s The Paul Finebaum Show stated, “100 percent we’re going to play”. Barkley noted it is what he heard from the bosses at Turner Sports. That should be a positive for fans.

NBA restart: Dallas Mavericks back, but not everyone

Brian Windhorst stated on numerous ESPN platforms including his own Hoops Collective podcast that he believes only the 16 current playoff teams will return with no regular season games.

Windhorst did leave the door open for a playoff-plus format. He made it seem like there was no chance all 30 teams would return.

That means the Mavs would be taking part regardless. Even a playoff-plus format means Dallas will gain that valuable postseason experience. Games appear likely to start in July in Orlando.

NBPA getting feedback on return

Adrian Wojnarowski tweet out the following on Monday.

Clearly, serious talks are going on, but nothing has been decided yet. Word is a firm decision will be made by Friday, May 29. That means there is not much longer to wait before we all know what will be happening to finish the 2019-2020 season.

Reseeding playoffs?

There was still talk of seeding the playoffs one to 16 and disregarding the conferences. Windhorst discussed this scenario on his podcast too. That would be a fun wrinkle for fans.

It does not change things a ton for the Mavericks, though. In the traditional format, they would be the seventh seed in Western Conference and face the LA Clippers in the first round. Under a one to 16 scenario, Dallas would be the 13th seed and face the Clippers in round one.

It is not the ideal matchup, but it will give the Mavs a chance to test themselves against one of the NBA’s best teams.

It appears the NBA will be back in July. Stay tuned for more specifics as they become available.