With the 2021/22 NBA regular season in the books, 10 teams have shifted their focus to the offseason and others will soon follow suit.
That means it’s time to retire our list of the NBA’s key in-season dates and deadlines for the ’21/22 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 of many of the NBA’s important dates and deadlines for the next few months, right up until training camps open for the 2022/23 season:
April 18
- NBA conducts random tiebreakers for lottery and draft positioning (link).
April 24
- Deadline for early entrants to declare for the NBA draft (10:59pm CT).
- Note: For more information on draft-related dates and deadlines, check out our full breakdown.
May 16-22
- NBA draft combine.
May 17
- NBA draft lottery.
June 1
- Last day for early entrants to withdraw from the NBA draft and retain their NCAA eligibility (10:59pm CT).
June 2
- NBA Finals begin.
June 13
- Deadline for all early entrants (including international players) to withdraw from the NBA draft (4:00pm CT).
June 19
- Latest possible end date for NBA Finals.
June 23
- NBA draft day.
June 29
- Last day for decisions on player, team, and early termination options (certain contracts will require earlier decisions).
- Last day for teams to make qualifying offers to players eligible for restricted free agency.
June 30
- Last official day of the 2021/22 NBA league year.
- Last day for players eligible for veteran extensions in 2021/22 to sign them.
- Teams can begin negotiating with free agents (5:00pm CT).
July 1
- Official start of the 2022/23 NBA league year.
- Moratorium period begins.
- Restricted free agents can sign an offer sheet.
- Teams can begin signing players to rookie scale contracts, minimum salary contracts, and two-way contracts.
- Teams can begin exercising the third- or fourth-year team options for 2023/24 on rookie scale contracts.
July 6
- Moratorium period ends (11:01am CT)
- Teams can begin officially signing players, extending players, and completing trades (11:01am CT).
- The two-day period for matching an RFA offer sheet signed during the moratorium begins.
July 7-17
- Las Vegas Summer League.
July 13
- Last day for teams to unilaterally withdraw qualifying offers to restricted free agents.
August 31
- Last day for teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2022/23 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.