Rockets GM Daryl Morey Planning For 'Rapid' Offseason After NBA Finals

The NBA is assessing a number of contingencies for resuming the 2019-20 season, which could extend through August and into the first week of September, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. But as the league explores shifting its calendar, a key question has emerged: How will an extended 2019-20 impact 2020-21 and beyond. 

Perhaps the NBA could hold a traditional offseason after a late-August Finals, waiting nearly months before kicking off the 2020-21 season near Christmas Day. Such a plan would be warmly welcomed by coaches and general managers throughout the league, who would receive a full offseason to tweak the franchise. Yet Rockets GM Daryl Morey isn't expecting such a smooth offseason.

"When we do restart, we think it’s going to be rapid. There’s not going to be the normal breaks between the season and the offseason," Morey told Rockets' play-by-play announcer Craig Ackerman. "So we’re having to do all our free agency prep, potential trade prep. The draft, we don’t know when that will be. It’s probably going to be right after whatever season we have, when it ends. So when we do restart, it’s going to be accelerated."

Morey is prepared for a rapid draft and free agency period before 2020-21, though this might be the perfect year for Houston to experience a truncated offseason. 

Seven current Rockets' rotation players are under contract through at least 2020-21, and guard Austin Rivers could also return if he opts in to a $2.4 million contract. With a bulk of his roster set and no lottery pick on the horizon, Morey could (for once) have a quiet offseason.