Raptors Feel Pressure To Determine Home Arena For '20-21 Season

The NBA’s decision to begin the '20-21 regular season on Dec. 22 is “putting added pressure on Toronto to find some place to play the home portion of a 72-game regular season,” according to Doug Smith of the TORONTO STAR. Raptors officials are “pressing to get approval to play” at Scotiabank Arena, though “one of several possible American sites” could be in play as well. Any plan to play in Toronto “would take approval of three levels of government,” along with the NBA and NBPA. However, the organization believes this is a “fight worth fighting … because the overwhelming desire is to be somewhere where they control everything from housing to practice facilities to medical facilities to transportation to and from airports and arenas.” While there have been “back channel discussions with the various governments," there is "no imminent resolution" (TORONTO STAR, 11/11).