With the 2016/17 regular season coming to an end, many teams have already shifted their focus to the offseason, and others will soon follow suit. With that in mind, it’s time to retire our list of the NBA’s key in-season dates and deadlines for the 2016/17 campaign in favor of an updated offseason calendar of the most important dates facing teams and players in the coming months. Here’s a breakdown:
April 12 — Last day of regular season. Luxury tax penalties calculated based on payroll as of this day.
April 14 — Playoff rosters set (2:00pm CT).
April 15 — Playoffs begin.
April 24 — Deadline for early entrants to declare for draft (10:59pm CT).
May 9-14 — Draft combine.
May 16 – Draft lottery.
May 24 — Last day for early entrants to withdraw from draft and retain their NCAA eligibility.
June 12 — Deadline for early entrants to withdraw from draft (4:00pm CT).
June 18 — Latest possible date for end of NBA Finals.
June 22 — Draft day.
June 24 — Last day for potential restricted free agents to exercise player options.
June 26 — NBA awards show.
June 29 — Last day for decisions on player, team and early termination options, unless individual contracts specify otherwise.
June 30 — Last official day of 2016/17 league year; last day for teams to make qualifying offers to players eligible for restricted free agency.
July 1 — Official start of 2017/18 league year; July moratorium begins. Free agents can begin reaching verbal agreements with teams.
July 6 — July moratorium ends (11:00am CT); teams can begin officially signing players and making trades.
July 13 — Last day for teams to unilaterally withdraw qualifying offers to restricted free agents.
July 15 — Last day for teams to issue required tenders to unsigned first-round picks; those players become free agents on July 16 if not tendered.
August 31 — Last day teams may waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2017/18 salaries.
September 5 — Last day for teams to issue required tenders to unsigned second-round picks; those players become free agents on September 6 if not tendered.
Late September (specific dates TBA) — Training camps open.
Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and NBA.com were used in the creation of this post.
Free agency?
It starts when the new league year starts. Just added a note about it for July 1 to make that clearer.