As expected, the NBA has officially moved up the start of its free agent period, announcing today in a press release that teams will be permitted to begin negotiating with free agents as of 6:00 pm eastern time on June 30. Previously, that negotiating window opened six hours later, at 12:01 am ET on July 1.
The change, which was agreed upon by the league and the players’ union, will also allow teams to communicate with free agents or their agents beginning at 6:00 pm ET on June 29. Communication during that 24-hour window will be limited to scheduling meetings. Those meetings can’t take place before free agency officially opens on the evening of June 30.
Tim Bontemps of ESPN.com reported last week that this move was anticipated, as the NBA looked to avoid having its free agent period begin in the middle of the night. Essentially, the decision amounts to the league starting its July moratorium six hours sooner.
As we detail in our glossary entry on the July moratorium, teams can’t officially sign players or complete trades while the moratorium is in effect, though there are handful of transactions that can still be completed during that window, including rookie contracts, minimum-salary deals, two-way pacts, and offer sheets for restricted free agents.
While trades and most free agent deals can’t be officially finalized during the July moratorium, agreements can be reached during that time. That’s why most top free agents are unofficially off the board by the time the moratorium comes to an end on July 6.
was this approved by coach/gm lebron?
Free agency should be moved to before the Draft.
I agree, gives teams a better idea of what they need having free agency pass.
Teams shouldn’t draft based on need anyway. They should just be taking the best player available, and free agency wouldn’t change that.
There are numerous instances (this year included) where after you get past a certain point in the draft, determination of “best player available” is made by hairs and centimeters. In that situation, it would be helpful to know if you’re better off drafting a guard or a forward, just for one example.
Right after Finals is over.
Apparently, the NBA cannot wait to see what happens in this upcoming free agency either!!