AP source says NBA will present players with plan for season restart

The NBA has told the National Basketball Players Association that it will present a 22-team plan for restarting the season to the league’s board of governors on Thursday, a person with knowledge of the situation told the Associated Press.

The teams that would be going to the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex on the Disney campus near Orlando would play eight games to determine playoff seeding starting around July 31 before the postseason begins, according to the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the league has not released its proposal publicly.

Approval is required of the players union, but it has been working with Commissioner Adam Silver and isn’t expected to oppose his plan.

The plan would have 13 Western Conference teams and nine Eastern Conference teams going to Disney, the cutoff being that teams must be within six games of a playoff spot at this point. The playoffs would start in August, and the NBA Finals would likely stretch into October, the person said.

The Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors and Boston Celtics already have clinched playoff spots — and, if only eight games are left, that would mean the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets would theoretically have clinched spots as well.

The Dallas Mavericks would be virtually assured of clinching a West spot, holding a seven-game lead over eighth-place Memphis. The Grizzlies, Portland, New Orleans, Sacramento, San Antonio and Phoenix all would be in the running for the No. 8 seed out West. In the East, Washington is six games behind No. 7 Brooklyn and 5 ½ games behind No. 8 Orlando — within range of triggering a play-in series.

For an NBA play-in series to happen to determine the No. 8...