The February 8 trade deadline was the most important in-season date for player movement during the 2017/18 NBA league year. It’s behind us now, but with less than two months left in the regular season, there are still several dates and deadlines worth keeping an eye on. Here are some of them:
February 28
- Last day for a player to renegotiate his contract during the 2017/18 league year.
Players who are eligible for veteran contract extensions have until June 30 to work out new deals with their teams. But if they hope to renegotiate a higher current-year salary as part of an extension, they’ll have to do so by February 28. Cap space is necessary for this maneuver, which is one reason why we rarely see it happen. Robert Covington renegotiated his contract with the Sixers earlier this season, but I don’t expect anyone else to do so before this month’s deadline.
March 1
- Last day a player can be waived by one team and remain eligible to appear in the postseason for another team.
As we noted in our glossary entry on contract buyouts this week, this deadline can sometimes create some confusion.
Players who change teams don’t have to sign with a new team by March 1 in order to be playoff-eligible — they simply have to be waived on or before March 1. A player released on or before March 1 could wait until the very last day of the regular season to sign with a new club, and he’d still retain his postseason eligibility. Anyone waived after March 1 won’t be playoff-eligible for a new team.
March 12
- Last day to use a disabled player exception.
The deadline for teams to use disabled player exceptions generally falls on March 10, but since that’s a Saturday this year, the deadline will be pushed back to Monday, the next business day.
The Celtics, Nets, and Pistons have already used their disabled player exceptions, but the Heat ($5.5MM), Clippers ($2.76MM), Jazz ($2.63MM), and Pelicans ($2.48MM) still have them available. Those DPEs can be used to sign a free agent to a rest-of-season contract, or to place a waiver claim on a player in the final year of his contract.
April 11
- Last day players can sign contracts for 2017/18.
- Last day two-way contracts can be converted to standard NBA contracts.
- Luxury tax penalties calculated based on payroll as of this day.
The last day of the regular season is an eventful one for both playoff and non-playoff teams. Players on two-way contracts aren’t eligible for the postseason, so if a playoff-bound club wants to get a two-way player on its 15-man postseason roster, this is the last day to do so.
For playoff and non-playoff teams alike, it’s not uncommon to sign a player to a non-guaranteed multiyear contract at season’s end. If a player were to sign a two-year contract on April 11 without any guaranteed money beyond this season, he’d receive a very modest prorated salary for 2017/18. Then his new team would have the option of waiving him at some point in the offseason before his 2018/19 salary becomes guaranteed.
As noted above, April 11 is also the cutoff for determining luxury tax penalties, so teams like the Cavaliers, Warriors, Thunder, and Wizards will have their bills calculated at this point.