The Blazers were the only team to vote against the plan. Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

Why Portland Trail Blazers voted against NBA resumption plan

By Zac Wassink | Last updated 6/4/20

While the NBA Board of Governors broadly approved the 22-team model to complete the 2019-20 season on Thursday, one team voted "no" on the proposal that involves clubs flocking to Orlando's Walt Disney World Resort.

The Athletic's Shams Charania confirmed the Portland Trail Blazers were responsible for the single dissenting vote.

Later in the day, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Trail Blazers "believed there were more competitive and innovative formats on the table — including those that addressed 2020 NBA Draft lottery odds based on regular-season game results in Orlando."

Wojnarowski added that Portland players backed the club's vote.

Portland's vote -- the lone dissenting in the 29-to-1 Board of Governors call today on the NBA's 22-team plan to resume season -- reflected the franchise's feedback from its players too, sources said. https://t.co/xwA5cKDxdJ
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 4, 2020

The ninth-place Blazers are 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the final Western Conference postseason berth. Portland will be one of 13 teams from the conference invited to play in Orlando.

Last week, Portland guard Damian Lillard made headlines when he told Yahoo Sports he didn't want to participate in "meaningless games" if the team didn't have a legitimate chance of qualifying for a postseason tournament. The Association may host a play-in tournament for the No. 8 seeds in both conferences.

The National Basketball Players Association must still officially agree to the league's proposal.

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