By this time next week, training camps for NBA teams around the league will have gotten underway, and we’ll be less than a month away from the start of the 2016/17 regular season. Although most of 2016’s important offseason dates and deadlines have long passed, there are still a few important dates worth noting before the end of October. Here’s a breakdown:
September 23/24: Teams participating in the NBA’s Global Games will get the opportunity to open their training camps early, a few days ahead of the rest of the league’s teams. That means that the Thunder, who are playing two games in Spain next month, as well as the Rockets and Pelicans, who will play each other twice in China, will begin training camps on September 24, holding their respective media days on September 23.
September 26/27: The rest of the NBA’s teams will hold media days on September 26, with training camps getting underway on September 27.
October 1: This is the last day for restricted free agents to accept a qualifying offer, which makes it a deadline of interest for the Rockets and Donatas Motiejunas, the last RFA remaining on the market. Here’s the latest on where things stand in those talks.
October 24: With the NBA’s regular season schedule set to begin on October 25, this is the last day for teams to set their 15-man rosters for the coming season. Teams can carry 20 players during the offseason and preseason, so we’ll see plenty of cuts made on and before October 24.
October 31: This is the last day for teams to sign players entering the final year of their rookie-scale contracts to extensions for 2017/18 and beyond. If those players aren’t extended by this deadline, they’ll be on track to reach restricted free agency in July 2017. Here’s the full list of players eligible for rookie-scale extensions. Giannis Antetokounmpo and C.J. McCollum have already signed new deals with the Bucks and Blazers, respectively.
October 31: Halloween is also the deadline for teams to exercise 2017/18 options for players entering the second or third years of their rookie-scale contracts. If a rookie-scale team option for ’17/18 isn’t picked up by October 31, the player will be on track to reach unrestricted free agency in July 2017. Here’s the full list of players whose teams will have option decisions to make.
Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and NBA.com were used in the creation of this post.