In April 2019, Basketball Otago were granted approval to make an NBL bid for the 2020 season. The Nuggets were granted provisional entry back into the NBL in July 2019, but the following month, their formal entry was deferred to the 2021 season, with both the league and the organisation feeling an additional 12 months would help the team to better lay the foundations needed for success. However, in May 2020, the Nuggets formally returned to the league in a 2020 competition that was revised and modified following the coronavirus pandemic.