PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- In the 2020 NBA Draft, Wednesday night, the Philadelphia 76ers currently have five picks, including 21st overall in the first round.
Daryl Morey, having been on board only a few weeks, is just getting started as president of basketball operations. His first big moment is this draft.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the team has had more time than usual to prepare for this draft, which usually happens in June. In contrast, they have had to get Morey up to speed quickly, but Vince Rozman, vice president of scouting, says he is not worried.
"I think the one thing that immediately comes through with Daryl is kind of the pace at which he works, and trying to keep up with that," he said.
From his time with the Houston Rockets, Morey has a track record of trading draft picks, though there are no rumors or indications that he is considering it this time.
"It’s hard to say right now ... where exactly his head is and how he’s gonna view those five picks," Rozman said.
But if Morey uses those trades, Rozman said, "Our primary focus is to get guys that, like, 1, 2, 3 years down the road, are still in the league and useful."
Rozman says the Sixers are exceedingly prepared.
"The scouts have been on these guys for the draft forever now. We’ve been able to get deeper on guys than time has ever permitted before, and have the knowledge to be able to relay that to any new people that come in the building and say, like, 'Here ... we’re ready. Let’s go.'"
Meanwhile, the NBA has announced some important -- and, because of the pandemic, tentative -- dates. The upcoming 72-game season is slated to run from Dec. 22 through May 16, in two segments, with an All-Star break March 5-10 in between.
Preseason games are expected to run from Dec. 11 to Dec. 19.
On Tuesday, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved a proposal to implement a play-in tournament for the 2020-21 season to determine the last two seeds in each conference among the 7th-place through 10th-place teams.
And the NBA Finals are scheduled to go no later than July 22, which could conflict with some players' plans to compete in the Olympics, which are supposed to begin July 23.