Players eligible for restricted free agency don’t become restricted free agents by default. In order to make a player a restricted free agent, a team must extend a qualifying offer to him — a player who doesn’t receive one becomes an unrestricted free agent instead.
The qualifying offer, which is essentially just a one-year contract offer, varies in amount depending on a player’s service time and previous contract status.
If a player reaches free agency with three or fewer years of NBA service time under his belt, his qualifying offer is worth whichever of the following amounts is greater:
- 135% of his prior salary; or 125% of his prior salary, if he signed his contract before the 2023/24 league year
- His minimum salary, plus $200K.
For instance, after earning $2,019,706 this season, Spurs big man Sandro Mamukelashvili projects to have a minimum salary worth $2,168,944 in 2024/25. Adding $200K to that figure works out to $2,368,944, whereas 135% of his prior salary is $2,726,603. His qualifying offer will be worth the greater amount ($2,726,603).
Let’s use Lakers guard Max Christie as another example — he earned a $1,719,864 salary in 2023/24. Unlike Mamukelashvili, Christie signed his contract prior to this season, so to determine his qualifying offer, we’d start by calculating 125% of that amount, which works out to $2,149,830. On the other hand, his projected minimum salary ($2,093,637) plus $200K would be $2,293,637.
Christie’s projected minimum could vary a little depending on where exactly the 2024/25 salary cap ends up, but it’s a safe bet his QO will be determined based on that amount rather rather than the 125% figure.
The qualifying offer for a former first-round pick coming off his rookie scale contract is determined by his draft position. Under the previous CBA, the qualifying offer for a first overall pick was 130% of his fourth-year salary, while for a 30th overall pick it was 150% of his previous salary — QOs for the rest of the first-rounders fall somewhere in between. Those numbers will increase to 140% and 160%, respectively, under the new CBA, beginning when the 2023 draft class reaches restricted free agency in 2027.
The full first-round scale for the draft class of 2020, whose first-rounders will be hitting free agency this summer, can be found here, courtesy of RealGM.
A wrinkle in the Collective Bargaining Agreement complicates matters for some RFAs-to-be, since a player’s previous usage can impact the amount of his qualifying offer. Certain players who meet – or fail to meet – the “starter criteria,” which we break down in a separate glossary entry, become eligible for higher or lower qualifying offers. Here’s how the starter criteria affects QOs:
- A top-14 pick who does not meet the starter criteria will receive a same qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the 15th overall pick.
- Note: In 2024, the value of this QO will be $7,744,600.
- A player picked between 10th and 30th who meets the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 120% of the amount applicable to the ninth overall pick.
- Note: In 2024, the value of this QO will be $8,486,620.
- A second-round pick or undrafted player who meets the starter criteria will receive a qualifying offer equal to 100% of the amount applicable to the 21st overall pick.
- Note: In 2024, the value of this QO will be $5,216,324.
Pistons center James Wiseman is one example of a player who falls into the first group, since he didn’t meet the starter criteria this year. The No. 2 overall pick in 2020, Wiseman will be eligible this offseason for a QO worth $7,744,600 instead of $15,815,870.
Conversely, Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley (a former No. 25 overall pick) met the starter criteria and will now be eligible for a QO worth $8,486,620 instead of $6,128,004.
[RELATED: How Starter Criteria Will Impact QOs For Potential 2024 RFAs]
A qualifying offer is designed to give a player’s team the right of first refusal. Because the qualifying offer acts as the first formal contract offer a free agent receives, his team then receives the option to match any offer sheet the player signs with another club.
A player can also accept his qualifying offer, if he so chooses. He then plays the following season on a one-year contract worth the amount of the QO, and becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, assuming he has at least four years of NBA experience. A player can go this route if he wants to hit unrestricted free agency as early as possible, or if he feels like the QO is the best offer he’ll receive. Accepting the qualifying offer also gives a player the right to veto trades for the season.
Hornets forward Miles Bridges was the most noteworthy restricted free agent to accept his qualifying offer during the 2023 offseason. As a result, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in 2024.
Here are a few more details related to qualifying offers:
- A team that issues a qualifying offer can unilaterally withdraw that offer anytime up until July 13.
- A player who receives a qualifying offer has a deadline of October 1 to accept it. He and the team can agree to extend that deadline.
- A different set of rules applies to players coming off two-way contracts. For most of those players, the qualifying offer would be equivalent to a one-year, two-way salary, with a small portion (known as the “maximum two-way protection amount”) guaranteed. For 2024/25, that partial guarantee will be worth approximately $78K.
- A player who is coming off a two-year, two-way deal; has already been on two-way deals with his current team for at least two seasons; or has accumulated four years of NBA service would be eligible for a qualifying offer equivalent to a standard, minimum-salary NBA contract, with a small portion (known as the “two-way QO protection amount”) guaranteed. For 2024/25, that partial guarantee projects to be worth approximately $93K.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years.