Report: NBA notifies teams of schedule changes aimed at resting players

The NBA has worked hard to ensure players are well rested during the upcoming campaign.

The league sent a memo to all 30 teams this week, notifying them that they've taken measures to build rest into the schedule, ESPN's Brian Windhorst reports.

The NBA is hoping the schedule changes will improve player safety and decrease the number of star players who are rested throughout the regular season.

With the 2017-18 season set to kick off roughly 10 days earlier than previous years, the league has been able to eliminate stretches of four games in five nights, and reduced the number of back-to-backs from 17.8 in 2015-16 to 14.9. The NBA has also cut back on the number of single-game road trips, and increased the number of Saturday games.

Commissioner Adam Silver was forced to issue a memo to teams in March, warning them that "significant penalties" would be handed to those that fail to provide "notice to the league office, their opponent, and the media immediately upon a determination that a player will not participate in a game due to rest."

Portions of 2017-18 schedule are believed to be announced later this week, according to Windhorst.