2022/23 NBA Schedules By Team
The NBA has officially unveiled its full regular season schedule for 2022/23.
The season will begin on Tuesday, October 18 and wrap up Sunday, April 9. The play-in tournament will take place from April 11-14, with the playoffs beginning on April 15.
The league’s announcement highlighted the fact that the estimated average miles traveled per team in 2022/23 has been reduced to 41,000, which is a new record low since the NBA has had 30 teams and played an 82-game season.
The league also confirmed several previously reported marquee matchups, including its five-game Christmas Day slate, an opening night doubleheader of Sixers at Celtics and Lakers at Warriors, and games taking place in Mexico City and Paris.
Listed below are links to the full 2022/23 season schedules for each NBA team, organized by conference and division. The team-by-team schedules for ’22/23 can also be viewed in a single document right here, while the full schedule by date can be viewed here.
EASTERN CONFERENCE
Atlantic Division
Central Division
Southeast Division
WESTERN CONFERENCE
Northwest Division
Pacific Division
Southwest Division
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Poison Pill Provision
The poison pill provision isn’t technically a term defined in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. However, the concept of a “poison pill” has colloquially come to refer to a pair of NBA concepts.
The first of those concepts relates to the Gilbert Arenas Provision, which we’ve explained in a separate glossary entry. When a team uses the Arenas provision to sign a restricted free agent with one or two years of NBA experience to an offer sheet, that team can include a massive third-year raise that’s often referred to as a “poison pill,” since it makes it more difficult for the original team to match the offer.
The second meaning of the “poison poll” is the one that has become more common – and more frequently relevant – in recent years. It relates to players who recently signed rookie scale extensions.
The “poison pill provision” applies when a team extends a player’s rookie scale contract, then trades him before the extension officially takes effect. It’s a rare situation, but it features its own set of rules, since extensions following rookie contracts often create a large gap between a player’s current and future salaries.
For salary-matching purposes, if a player is traded between the time his rookie contract is extended and the following July 1 (when that extension takes effect), the player’s incoming value for the receiving team is the average of his current-year salary and the annual salary in each year of his extension.
His current team, on the other hand, simply treats his current-year salary as the outgoing figure for matching purposes.
Let’s use Heat guard Tyler Herro as an example. Herro, who is currently viewed as both a trade candidate and an extension candidate, is set to earn $5,722,116 in 2022/23, the final year of his rookie scale contract. Any extension he signs would be significantly more lucrative. To illustrate our point, let’s assume he and the Heat agree to a four-year, $120MM rookie scale extension that would begin in ’23/24.
If the Heat decide after signing Herro to that extension that they want to trade him, the poison pill provision would complicate their efforts. From Miami’s perspective, Herro’s current-year cap hit ($5,722,116) would represent his outgoing salary for matching purposes. However, any team acquiring Herro would have to view his incoming value as $25,144,423 — that’s the annual average of the five years and $125,722,116 he has left when accounting for both his current contract and his (hypothetical) new extension.
As we explain in our glossary entry on the traded player exception, NBA rules dictate that over-the-cap teams must send and receive approximately the same amount of salary in any trade. So applying the poison pill provision to a player like Herro and creating a difference of nearly $20MM between how two trade partners account for him would make salary-matching far more difficult than usual.
The poison pill provision is one key reason why the Heat are unlikely to extend Herro until they’re fairly certain they won’t use him in a blockbuster trade. Without an extension in place, his current-year salary of $5,722,116 is both his outgoing and incoming cap hit for matching purposes.
Trades involving a player who recently signed a rookie scale extension are already rare. After all, those players are generally young, and a player who signed an extension is promising enough to have warranted a long-term investment. Those aren’t players that teams often trade. The poison poll provision further disincentivizes a deal involving one of those recently extended players by complicating salary-matching rules, making those trades that much more rare.
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 2012, 2018, and 2021.
Poll: Best NBA Head Coaching Hire Of 2022
As we outlined in detail earlier today, four NBA teams made head coaching changes this offseason. Those changes were as follows:
- Charlotte Hornets: Hired Steve Clifford to replace James Borrego.
- Los Angeles Lakers: Hired Darvin Ham to replace Frank Vogel.
- Sacramento Kings: Hired Mike Brown to replace Alvin Gentry.
- Utah Jazz: Hired Will Hardy to replace Quin Snyder.
The Hornets and Kings, two young teams looking to get back to the playoffs, took somewhat similar approaches in their hiring processes, landing on candidates who have plenty of previous head coaching experience and who have led lottery teams to the postseason in the past.
Between them, Clifford and Brown have coached 1,200 NBA regular season games. And despite having underwhelming rosters in Charlotte and Orlando, Clifford has led his teams to the playoffs in four of eight seasons. Brown’s clubs made the postseason in six of his seven full seasons as a head coach.
The Lakers and Jazz, meanwhile, took a different path, hiring veteran assistants who are becoming head coaches for the first time.
It’s an interesting choice for the Lakers, given that they have a veteran roster and title aspirations, but they believe Ham – a former player himself – can command the respect of stars like LeBron James and Anthony Davis and won’t back down from making tough, necessary rotation decisions.
As for the Jazz, their new head coach – who is known for his player development skills – will be the league’s youngest. Hardy’s hiring was perhaps the first obvious signal that the team would be charting a new course this summer. After trading away standout center Rudy Gobert, Utah is either headed for a full-fledged rebuild or intends to reshape its roster around young star Donovan Mitchell. Taking the former route would make some sense based on Hardy’s skill set and the fact that he received a five-year contract.
Based on what you know about these four teams and their new coaches, we want to know which of this offseason’s head coaching hires you liked the best. Obviously, the expectations won’t be the same for all four coaches, so we’re taking potential long-term success and tenure into account, rather than just projecting which team will have the best record in 2022/23.
Which of these four coaches will be the most successful in his new job? Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!
Which head coach will be the most successful in his new job?
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Mike Brown (Kings) 33% (352)
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Darvin Ham (Lakers) 30% (320)
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Will Hardy (Jazz) 20% (211)
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Steve Clifford (Hornets) 16% (173)
Total votes: 1,056
2022 NBA Head Coaching Carousel Recap
Over the last couple months, NBA teams have been overhauling their rosters, signing free agents, making trades, and locking up their draft picks to contracts. Prior to the draft and free agency though, a handful of teams completed another major offseason change that shouldn’t be overlooked — four NBA clubs named a new head coach.
Here’s a recap of this offseason’s head coaching changes and a brief look at how they played out:
Charlotte Hornets
Hired: Steve Clifford (story)- Replaced: James Borrego (story)
- Contract details: Three-year deal (two guaranteed seasons, third-year team option)
- Other candidates who reportedly interviewed or received consideration: Kenny Atkinson, Mike D’Antoni, Darvin Ham, Charles Lee, Terry Stotts, Sean Sweeney, David Vanterpool, Frank Vogel
While it didn’t receive as much fanfare as some of this spring’s other head coaching searches, the Hornets’ hiring process was easily the most eventful of the bunch. After dismissing Borrego due to Charlotte’s defensive shortcomings and a failure to make its first and only play-in game competitive in either of the last two seasons, the team embarked on a hunt for an experienced replacement.
Atkinson, D’Antoni, and Stotts were reported to be finalists, with the decision coming down to Atkinson and D’Antoni. The Hornets offered Atkinson the job and he accepted, but eight days later, word broke that he had reneged on the agreement between the two sides, sending Charlotte back to square one.
Rather than returning to D’Antoni or Stotts, the Hornets pivoted in another direction, opting for a reunion with Clifford, who coached the club from 2013-18.
By hiring not just a former NBA head coach but one who coached the Hornets only four years ago, the organization certainly opened itself up to criticism for going the “retread” route. But Clifford had more success in his five seasons in Charlotte than any other head coach has in recent team history. Since reentering the NBA in 2004, Charlotte has made the playoffs just three times since then, and two of those postseason berths came during Clifford’s tenure.
Los Angeles Lakers
- Hired: Darvin Ham (story)
- Replaced: Frank Vogel (story)
- Contract details: Four-year deal
- Other candidates who reportedly interviewed or received consideration: Kenny Atkinson, Adrian Griffin, Mark Jackson, Charles Lee, Terry Stotts
Vogel’s firing had been rumored since the first half of the 2021/22 season, so it came as no surprise when he was quickly let go following the end of the regular season. He led the Lakers to a championship less than two years ago, but the team’s 33-49 showing in ’21/22 was so disappointing that he became an obvious fall guy.
The Lakers were linked to a number of high-profile candidates during their search – they reportedly had interest in Nick Nurse, Doc Rivers, Quin Snyder, and Juwan Howard – but eventually focused on a handful of more realistic options.. They narrowed their finalists to Ham, Stotts, and Atkinson, then chose Ham, the only one of the three without any prior head coaching experience.
A veteran assistant who was on the Lakers’ staff from 2011-13 and then plied his trade under Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta and Milwaukee, Ham should bring a fresh perspective to a roster that didn’t mesh well last season. L.A. will be hoping he can make the same sort of immediate impact that former players and first-time head coaches Ime Udoka and Willie Green did last season in Boston and New Orleans, respectively.
Sacramento Kings
- Hired: Mike Brown (story)
- Replaced: Alvin Gentry (story)
- Contract details: Four-year deal
- Other candidates who reportedly interviewed or received consideration: Steve Clifford, Mike D’Antoni, Darvin Ham, Will Hardy, Mark Jackson, Charles Lee
Gentry, who replaced Luke Walton during the first half of the 2021/22 season, previously stuck around following interim stints in Detroit and Phoenix to become those teams’ permanent head coaches. But after leading the Kings to an underwhelming 24-41 record to close out the season, he was unable to replicate that feat in Sacramento.
One report early in the Kings’ search process indicated they were seeking out a candidate who had experience turning a lottery team into a playoff club and who could improve Sacramento’s defense. The team ultimately landed on Brown, who achieved the first of those requirements in Cleveland and has a reputation as a defensive-minded coach.
Brown’s previous head coaching stints have been a mixed bag. He led the Cavs to an outstanding 272-138 (.663) regular season record from 2005-10, but the team only made two deep playoff runs during that time — once to the Eastern Finals and once to the NBA Finals. He then had brief stints with the Lakers (71 games) and Cavs again (82 games) before serving as an assistant in Golden State for several years.
His time spent honing his coaching skills as part of the Warriors’ championship teams will be put to the test in Sacramento, where he’ll be tasked with getting the Kings back to the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
Utah Jazz
- Hired: Will Hardy (story)
- Replaced: Quin Synder (story)
- Contract details: Five-year deal
- Other candidates who reportedly interviewed or received consideration: Jerome Allen, Johnnie Bryant, Sam Cassell, Adrian Griffin, Alex Jensen, Charles Lee, Joe Mazzulla, Chris Quinn, Lamar Skeeter, Terry Stotts, Sean Sweeney, Jason Terry, Frank Vogel, Kevin Young
Speculation about Snyder’s future began well before the Jazz were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, but he didn’t formally step down until June 5, over a month after Utah’s season came to an end.
Getting a late start on their coaching search didn’t dissuade the Jazz from exercising a patient approach and casting a wide net. Danny Ainge and Justin Zanik interviewed 14 candidates for the position, reportedly focusing on coaches who were highly regarded for their player development skills and defensive acumen.
Utah’s eventual choice was an interesting one. Hardy came from Ainge’s old team in Boston, though the two didn’t overlap at all — Hardy only joined the Celtics’ coaching staff in 2021 after serving as an assistant under Gregg Popovich in San Antonio for several years.
The 34-year-old Hardy becomes the NBA’s youngest active head coach and received a five-year contract, the longest deal of any of this year’s new head coaches. The long-term agreement signals the Jazz have confidence in him to lead the team for years to come, even – or perhaps especially – if they pivot to a rebuild by trading not only Rudy Gobert but Donovan Mitchell.
Heat, Spurs To Play In Mexico City In December
The NBA will return to Mexico City this season for the first time since 2019, with the league confirming in a press release that the Heat and Spurs will play a regular season game at the Arena CDMX on December 17.
According to the NBA, the game will be the league’s 31st in Mexico over the last three decades — the Rockets and Mavericks played the first preseason game in Mexico back in 1992. The Spurs, who will likely be the “home” team, have made an effort to market themselves in the country in recent years, having also participated in games in Mexico in 2017 and 2019.
“We have played six games in Mexico City and every time thousands of Spurs fans showed up, making us feel loved and right at home,” Spurs CEO RC Buford said in a statement. “We are grateful for our loyal fans in Mexico and are thrilled for the opportunity to play in front of them as part of our 50th anniversary season. This is one way we continue to purposefully engage and celebrate our growing number of fans in Mexico.”
The COVID-19 pandemic derailed the NBA’s plans to play in international markets during the last couple seasons, but the league appears set to make up for lost time in 2022/23. In addition to the Mexico City showcase, the NBA has also announced a regular season game in Paris, as well as preseason contests in Abu Dhabi and Tokyo.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Anunoby, Flynn, Sixers, Celtics
Appearing on CNBC on Monday (video link), financial analyst Jonathan Boyar said that there’s a belief Knicks owner James Dolan will explore selling his sports franchises after Madison Square Garden Entertainment finishes building the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas. The new Vegas venue is scheduled to open in 2023.
However, an MSG executive responded to that report with a quick and succinct denial, according to Knicks reporter Tommy Beer (Twitter link).
“We have no plans to sell either of the teams,” the executive said of the Knicks and the NHL’s New York Rangers.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic division:
- OG Anunoby and Malachi Flynn are among the Raptors facing the most pressure in 2022/23, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic. As Koreen outlines, if Anunoby can stay healthy and continues to develop on offense, he could become an All-Star caliber player, but he still has to stay on the court and show he deserves that bigger role. Flynn, meanwhile, is entering the third year of his rookie contract and may not be part of Toronto’s future plans if he doesn’t establish himself as a reliable backup this season.
- Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer examines some lingering offseason questions facing the Sixers, including whether the team will get seriously involved in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes and how the NBA’s investigation into the team’s free agency moves might play out.
- Jared Weiss of The Athletic takes a look at whether or not there will be regular minutes available in the Celtics‘ rotation for Payton Pritchard and/or Sam Hauser following the team’s offseason acquisition of Malcolm Brogdon. While Weiss believes both players are capable of contributing in Boston, he suggests they’ll have to earn their playing time.
Nuggets Plan To Keep Gillespie Despite Injury
The Nuggets plan to retain rookie Collin Gillespie even though the rookie is expected to miss a chunk of next season due to a leg injury, according to Mike Singer of the Denver Post.
Denver signed the undrafted guard out of Villanova to a two-way contract in early July. Late last month, Gillespie suffered a lower left leg fracture and underwent surgery. He was at his alma mater, helping out with a team practice, when the injury occurred.
Gillespie’s father stated that he expected his son to return to the court “in five or six months.”
The Nuggets intend to support Gillespie, who has become a favorite of coach Michael Malone, throughout his recovery, Singer writes.
He averaged 15.6 PPG for Villanova last season, shooting 41.5% from three-point range. Gillespie averaged 11.3 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 4.3 APG and 1.5 SPG in four Summer League contests.
And-Ones: Election Day, Free Agent History, Kurucs, Hall Of Fame
In an effort to encourage fans, players, staff members and arena workers to vote in the midterm elections, the NBA will not play any games on Election Day, Tuesday, November 8, the league’s communications department tweets. The scheduling decision came out of the league’s focus on promoting nonpartisan civic engagement. Some of the league’s practice facilities and arenas have been used as polling places.
We have more from around the basketball world:
- Ben Wallace, Shawn Marion and Kevin Durant. Those are some of the players chosen by HoopsHype’s Frank Urbina as the best free agent signings in the history of the Pistons, Mavericks and Warriors, respectively. Urbina makes his top free agent selections for every team in the league.
- Former NBA forward Rodions Kurucs is close to signing with Spanish team Real Betis Baloncesto, Emiliano Carchia of Sportando reports. Kurucs has appeared in 131 NBA games, including a total of 21 with Brooklyn, Milwaukee and Houston during the 2020/21 campaign. He played with KK Partizan in Serbia last season. Kurucs saw action in four Summer League contests with the Raptors last month.
- Manu Ginobili will be presented by longtime Spurs teammate and Hall of Fame inductee Tim Duncan during this year’s enshrinement ceremony on September 10, according to Hoophall.com. Isiah Thomas will be among five Hall of Famers to present Tim Hardaway.
Eastern Notes: Boeheim, Marks, Avdija, Hunter
Rookie Buddy Boeheim is on a two-way contract with the Pistons and the undrafted guard is eager to prove he belongs at this level, Mike Curtis of the Detroit News writes. “I think (proving people wrong) has always been one of my bigger motivations,” Boeheim said. “I’ve always been doubted and just been ‘the coach’s son’ and ‘Jim Boeheim’s son’ and you know, ‘I’m on the team because of (his father)’ or whatever it is.” He averaged 7.0 PPG in 19.5 MPG during five Summer League contests.
We have more from the Eastern Conference:
- Howard University has hired Daniel Marks away from the Bucks’ front office to become the school’s chief program strategist, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. Marks, who was part of Milwaukee’s scouting department, will head up the school’s NIL program and deal with the transfer portal, among other responsibilities.
- Deni Avdija has become a dogged defender for the Wizards, but his long-term future in the league hinges on improving his shooting, Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes. Avdija has only made 31.6% of his 3-point tries during his first two seasons. Robbins polled several anonymous scouts to gauge the former lottery pick’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Ruth Hunter has been promoted by the Heat to the title of senior director of team development, according to Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald. She will be involved with player programs, analytics and basketball operations and report to GM Andy Elisburg. Hunter was added to the Heat’s basketball operations department last offseason while also remaining a broadcaster.
Tyler Herro Unfazed By Rumors, Unsure Regarding Extension
Heat guard Tyler Herro shrugged off questions Tuesday about potentially being traded, Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald writes.
Herro was making an appearance for his foundation in Miami. His name has popped up prominently as the potential centerpiece of a Heat trade package for a star like Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell.
“I mean ever since I’ve been here, my name has been in rumors. So rumors, they don’t bother me,” he said. “Whether I’m on the Heat or somewhere else, I’m getting ready for the season.”
Herro’s future with the franchise is cloudy, even if he’s still on the roster when training camp opens. He’s eligible for a rookie scale extension prior to opening night.
Miami could offer him a max five-year deal worth up to a projected $193MM or a four-year deal worth less than the max. If he signs an extension, it will be more difficult for the team to trade the reigning Sixth Man of the Year. Herro professed ignorance regarding the state of any negotiations.
“I mean, I know as much as you know,” he said. “I’m just waiting on my turn and we’ll see what happens. There’s a deadline, but I’m going to let my agent take care of that and see what happens.”
If Herro winds up elsewhere, he vows to remains productive.
“Like I said, whatever team I’m on, I’m ready to play,” he said.