The most notable dates of the 2023 NBA offseason are behind us now that we’re well clear of the draft and the free agent period. However, there are still a number of dates and deadlines to keep an eye on in the coming weeks and months before teams take the court for the 2023/24 regular season.
Here’s the breakdown:
August 31
- Last day for teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2023/24 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.
September 10
- 2023 FIBA World Cup ends.
October 2
- NBA media day. With teams and players reporting to training camp, many coaches and general managers will speak to reporters on this date for the first time in months.
October 3
- Training camps begin.
- Note: Teams playing exhibition games outside of North America are expected to hold their media days and open their training camps a few days earlier.
October 5
- Preseason begins.
October 20
- Preseason ends.
October 21
- Last day for players on fully non-guaranteed contracts to be waived and not count at all against a team’s 2023/24 cap. They must clear waivers before the first day of the regular season.
October 23
- Last day of the 2023 offseason.
- Roster limits decrease from 21 players to 18 (4:00 pm CT). Teams will be limited to carrying 15 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals as of this deadline.
- Last day for teams to sign a player to a rookie scale extension (5:00 pm CT).
[RELATED: Players eligible for rookie scale extensions] - Last day for teams to sign an extension-eligible veteran player with multiple seasons left on his contract (such as Donovan Mitchell) to an extension. An extension-eligible veteran player on an expiring deal (like Klay Thompson) can still be extended after October 23.
- Last day for teams to complete sign-and-trade deals.
- Last day for teams to convert an Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way contract.
October 24
- Regular season begins.
[RELATED: 2023/24 schedules by team]
Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ and NBA.com were used in the creation of this post.
I noticed that on 9/6 non-tendered second round picks become free agents. Is holding onto draft rights as assets a thing of the past?
That hasn’t changed since the last CBA — teams will issue the required tenders for the players who require them (ie. guys not playing in another professional league). They’re generally not accepted, since they’re just non-guaranteed one-year minimum-salary offers.
For what it’s worth, a couple of Nets second-rounders (RaiQuan Gray, Marcus Zegarowski) did accept their required tenders last year. If I recall correctly, they ended up being waived and then signing new camp deals that included Exhibit 10 language.
RE: Oct. 23 notes: Did you perhaps mean to use “e.g.” rather than “i.e?”. Or do those items really only apply to the named players?
There are many others. I’ll change that.