New Orleans Pelicans: 5 reasons the Pels will make the playoffs

3. Teams treating the remainder like an exhibition and players dropping out

What do we expect to happen when the Suns and/or the Wizards drop their first two or three games and are effectively out of the playoff race? Why would they continue to field their best players and risk injury going into next season?

There’s no rhyme or reason for either team to continue to put their stars of the future on the court and risk ending their bid to play in what will be the incredibly condensed 2020-2021 season.

We’ve already been told Davis Bertans, the Wizards’ scoring threat off the bench and candidate for Sixth Man of the Year and/or Most Improved Player, will be sitting out the remainder of the season. This comes as no surprise given his ascent this season, the fact that he’s going into a contract year and his previous two ACL tears.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard or will hear of players determining it’s their best option to skip out on the remainder of the season, either. That includes players on teams that will likely contend for a title.

Avery Bradley, whose son has had issues recovering from respiratory illnesses, will not participate in the remainder of the season out of caution for his family’s health. Bradley also issued a statement referring to his concern on social issues, saying that he felt basketball would be a distraction should the season continue.

Trevor Ariza and Willie Cauley-Stein have also decided to sit out, as Ariza will be spending time with his son and Cauley-Stein is expecting the birth of his first child. It’s likely other players (to an uncertain degree) will start to do the same, for various reasons.

This is not to be stated as a joy that players have decided to sit out — whoever wins the NBA Championship will have an asterisk, for sure. But, on the other hand, it certainly doesn’t hurt the Pels’ playoff chances to have these players sit out and other teams do the same with their best players.