Many NBA coaches have called them an opportunity to warm up before the playoffs, to ease their star players back into professional ball. They won’t count towards end-of-season awards. For most teams, save those in the eight seed and below, they won’t carry a lot of weight in the standings.
If that’s how the upcoming seeding games are being framed, what should we think of the season before the season before the “season”?
Yes, I’m referring to the scrimmage games, which begin for the Raptors in just two days — 137 days after their last NBA game — as they take on the Houston Rockets.