The backdrop: Back in March, pre-coronavirus, Hawks CEO Steve Koonin proposed starting the NBA season in mid-December (rather than mid-October) and ending it in August (rather than June) to avoid having to compete with football in the fall, while dominating more of the summer months when the only other show in town is baseball.

Three months later, that plan is basically happening. The NBA listed Dec. 1 as next season’s tentative start date, and unless teams play fewer games or some other adjustment is made, the season would likely end around August.
It’s unclear if that would become the permanent NBA schedule, but it would certainly be easier to continue with December–August at that point than try to reset it back to October–June by cutting another offseason short.