Two Kings will have to make major decisions earlier than most. The player option in the contract for James Anderson must either be picked up or declined by no later than the seventh day after Sacramento’s last game, and the 10th day after Sacramento’s finale is the decision date for Seth Curry‘s player option. The Kings aren’t headed for the playoffs, so that means the deadlines for Anderson and Curry to make their choices come in late April, two months before most who have player options.
The standard deadline date is June 29th. Contracts are allowed to specify an earlier date, but not a later date. Many contracts take advantage of this provision, though April dates are rare. Bismack Biyombo‘s player option also triggers as early as seven days after Toronto’s last game, but since the Raptors are primed for a deep playoff run, he won’t have to make his call for a while.
The most popular decision date this year is June 22nd, the day before the draft. A least 13 players have to opt in or opt out no later than that day, and Biyombo could join that list if the Raptors make the finals. Note that players don’t have to take action by those dates if they want to opt out. Player options only require players to say whether they’re opting in. The option is automatically declined if the player doesn’t file paperwork.
We went in depth on all the player options here and here, but below is a list of players whose option decisions come due before the standard June 29th:
April 20th
- James Anderson, Kings ($1,139,123)
April 23rd
- Seth Curry, Kings ($1,015,696)
June 1st
- Quincy Acy, Kings ($1,050,961)
June 13th
- Mo Williams, Cavaliers ($2,194,500)
June 15th
- DeMar DeRozan, Raptors ($10,050,000)
June 21st
- Brandon Bass, Lakers ($3,135,000)
- Alonzo Gee, Pelicans ($1,379,400)
June 22nd
- Arron Afflalo, Knicks ($8,000,000)
- Cole Aldrich, Clippers ($1,227,286)
- Darrell Arthur, Nuggets ($2,940,630)
- *Bismack Biyombo, Raptors ($2,940,630)
- Caron Butler, Kings ($1,551,659)
- Manu Ginobili, Spurs ($2,940,630)
- Wesley Johnson, Clippers ($1,227,286)
- Jeremy Lin, Hornets ($2,235,255)
- Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks ($8,692,184)
- Chandler Parsons, Maverics ($16,023,000)
- Austin Rivers, Clippers ($3,344,106)
- David West, Spurs ($1,551,659)
- Deron Williams, Mavericks ($5,621,026)
- Derrick Williams, Knicks ($4,598,000)
June 27th
- Pau Gasol, Bulls ($7,769,520)
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.