Key 2025 NBA Offseason Dates, Deadlines
With the 2024/25 NBA regular season in the books, nearly half of the league’s 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 ’24/25 campaign in favor of an updated offseason calendar of the most important dates facing teams and players in the coming months.
In the space below, you’ll find 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 2025/26 season.
April 26
- Deadline for early entrants to declare for the NBA draft (10:59 pm CT).
- Note: For more information on draft-related dates and deadlines, check out our full breakdown.
May 9-11
- NBA G League combine.
May 12
- NBA draft lottery.
May 11-18
- NBA draft combine.
May 28
- Last day for early entrants to withdraw from the NBA draft and retain their NCAA eligibility (10:59 pm CT).
June 5
- NBA Finals begin.
June 15
- Deadline for all early entrants (including international players) to withdraw from the NBA draft (4:00 pm CT).
June 22
- Latest possible end date for NBA Finals.
TBD (first day after NBA Finals)
- Teams can begin negotiating with their own free agents.
June 25
- Day one of NBA draft (first round).
June 26
- Day two of NBA draft (second round).
June 29
- Last day for decisions on player, team, and early termination options
- Note: 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 2024/25 NBA league year.
- Last day for players eligible for veteran extensions in 2024/25 to sign them.
- Teams can begin negotiating with free agents from other clubs (5:00 pm CT).
July 1
- Official start of the 2025/26 NBA league year.
- Moratorium period begins.
- Restricted free agents can sign an offer sheet.
- Teams can begin signing players to one- or two-year minimum-salary contracts.
- Teams can begin signing players to two-way contracts.
- Teams can begin signing first-round picks to rookie scale contracts.
- Teams can begin signing second-round picks using the second-round pick exception.
- Teams can begin exercising the third- or fourth-year team options for 2026/27 on rookie scale contracts.
July 5-8
- Salt Lake City Summer League
July 6
- Moratorium period ends (11:01 am CT).
- Teams can begin officially signing players, extending players, and completing trades (11:01 am CT).
- The 24-hour period for matching an RFA offer sheet signed during the moratorium begins (11:01 am CT).
July 6-9
- California Classic Summer League.
July 10-20
- Las Vegas Summer League.
July 13
- Last day for teams to unilaterally withdraw qualifying offers to restricted free agents.
July 31
- Players signed using the second-round pick exception begin to count against a team’s cap.
August 5
- Last day for teams to issue required tenders to unsigned second-round picks.
August 29
- Last day for teams to waive players and apply the stretch provision to their 2025/26 salaries.
Late September (specific dates TBA)
- Training camps open.
Information from NBA.com was used in the creation of this post.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 4/24/2025
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 1:00 pm Central time (2:00 pm Eastern).
And-Ones: Gambling, Doncic, Thompsons, DPOY, More
As part of their anonymous poll of 158 NBA players, the full results of which can be viewed here, Sam Amick and Josh Robbins of The Athletic got several interesting responses about the league’s gambling partnerships and the impact they’ve had.
Of The Athletic’s poll respondents, 46% felt the partnerships were bad for the NBA, while 34% said they were good — the remaining 20% were either undecided or were somewhere in the middle. The general consensus is that those partnerships have benefited the league financially but have increased the likelihood of players being harassed by fans.
As Amick and Robbins write in a separate story, players around the league also sounded off on February’s shocking Luka Doncic trade, questioning not only the Mavericks‘ decision to deal the perennial All-NBA first-teamer but also the timing of the move.
Some players who spoke to The Athletic acknowledged that the trade wouldn’t have looked quite so bad if not for the injury woes that tanked the Mavericks’ season, while others said it was too early to render final judgment. But the responses Amick and Robbins got strongly suggested that the only players fully on board with the deal were anonymous Lakers, including one respondent who said, “I think it (was a) phenomenal decision. So smart. Wise. I’m a Nico Harrison fan.”
Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- In an entertaining feature for ESPN.com, Michael C. Wright takes a closer look at the rapid rise of twin brothers Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, who have met their goal of making the playoffs for the first time this year, with the Rockets and Pistons, respectively. Now, they’re ready to take that goal one step further. “I want to see him in the Finals,” Amen told Wright. “That would be fire. But just one of us wins. I know who that’s going to be.” Ausar shares his brother’s goal, but disagrees with his prediction about which team would come out on top. “Man, we would whoop ’em,” Ausar said. “This year, when we played, when we had all of our players, we beat them.”
- With the NBA set to announce its Defensive Player of the Year award winner on Thursday evening, Josh Robbins of The Athletic spoke to 13 head coaches and assistants around the league about who deserves the honor. Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and Thunder wing Luguentz Dort were the top vote-getters in Robbins’ poll — Dort isn’t among the three finalists for the award.
- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report looks ahead to the offseason and identifies under-the-radar teams that might make sense as destinations for 10 potential trade candidates around the NBA, ranging from stars like Kevin Durant and Trae Young to role players such as Marcus Smart and Daniel Gafford.
Knicks, Sixers To Play Preseason Games In Abu Dhabi
The Knicks and Sixers will participate in the NBA’s Abu Dhabi Games 2025 this fall, the league announced today in a press release.
New York and Philadelphia will play a pair of preseason contests at Etihad Arena on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, October 2 and Saturday, Oct. 4.
The NBA had never played in the United Arab Emirates prior to 2022, but this will be the fourth straight year that the league has held preseason games in Abu Dhabi.
It will be the first time that the Knicks have played a game outside of North America since they faced the Wizards in London, England for a regular season game in January 2019. The 76ers haven’t played overseas since they squared off against Dallas for a pair of preseason matchups in China (Shanghai and Shenzhen) in October 2018.
The Abu Dhabi Games are the third international preseason contests announced by the NBA ahead of the 2025/26 season. The Nets and Suns will be playing in Macao on Oct. 10 and 12, while the Pelicans will face teams from Australia’s National Basketball League in Melbourne on Oct. 3 and 5.
Jayson Tatum Out For Game 2 Due To Wrist Injury
5:25 PM: Tatum has officially been ruled out for Game 2, per Tim Bontemps of ESPN (Twitter).
3:14 PM: Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been listed as doubtful to play in Game 2 of the team’s first-round series vs. Orlando on Wednesday, as Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets. Tatum’s injury designation is a right distal radius bone bruise.
The Celtics star injured his right wrist in the fourth quarter of Game 1 on Sunday when he drove to the basket and was met by Magic defenders Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr. The Orlando duo collided with the Celtics star and sent him to the floor and into the basket stanchion (Twitter video link via ESPN).
Tatum grabbed his right wrist and remained on the floor for some time. He was eventually able to get up and remain in the game, but he seemed to be favoring that wrist for the rest of the night. Following Boston’s victory, the six-time All-Star underwent an X-ray, which he said came back clean.
While Tatum initially expressed optimism about his availability going forward, Shams Charania of ESPN reported today during a SportsCenter appearance (Twitter video link) that the 27-year-old underwent an MRI and was diagnosed with a bone bruise. Charania referred to it as a “pain tolerance” injury that could linger, adding that Tatum’s availability for Game 2 is “up in the air.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters earlier on Tuesday that Tatum is considered day-to-day, per Souichi Terada of MassLive.com.
If Tatum is unable to play on Wednesday, the Celtics figure to lean more heavily on starters Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis for offense, with Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser among the reserves who could see more significant roles.
Southeast Notes: Young, Rozier, Love, Magic, Wizards
Asked during an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show (YouTube link) about Trae Young‘s future in Atlanta, NBA insider Chris Haynes said the Hawks guard has expressed to him that he’s “down with the process” and wants to see a young Atlanta team “turn the corner.” However, while Haynes hasn’t heard anything from Young’s camp to indicate that he’s seeking a change of scenery, he acknowledged that there are “definitely teams out there who are monitoring his situation.”
Within his preview of the Hawks’ offseason, John Hollinger of The Athletic also explores what’s in store for Young and the Hawks, noting that it’s hard to get a read on the team’s direction because there are already so many individuals who have some say in the front office, even before Atlanta hires a new head of basketball operations.
In addition to team owner Tony Ressler and his son Nick Ressler, executives who have a voice in personnel decisions include general manager Onsi Saleh, assistant GM Kyle Korver, and advisers Chris Grant and Chris Emens. Tony Ressler also sometimes asks for input from people outside of the basketball operations department, including minority owner Grant Hill. According to Hollinger, Hill is viewed by some sources as Ressler’s top choice to run the front office, but seems satisfied with his USA Basketball job.
While there has been “chatter” about the possibility of the Hawks entertaining a Young trade this offseason, it remains to be seen how strong his market would be, according to Hollinger, who suggests one possible reason the team traded Dejounte Murray instead of Young a year ago was because it would’ve been more difficult to extract value for Young.
We have more from around the Southeast:
- Terry Rozier (ankle sprain) and Kevin Love (personal reasons) will be unavailable for the Heat in Game 2 of their series vs. Cleveland on Wednesday. Head coach Erik Spoelstra says he “feels” for both players, praising Rozier for maintaining a good work ethic even when he’s out of the rotation and adding that the team is there for Love during “what he’s going through,” per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
- Rozier told reporters that he’s “super frustrated” about injuring his ankle in a scrimmage, but he said the injury is already improving and didn’t require an MRI, according to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel. The Heat guard described his status as “day to day.”
- The Magic aren’t bothered by Al Horford‘s complaints about Orlando’s “extra” physicality in Game 1, including a hard foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope that resulted in Celtics star Jayson Tatum injuring his wrist. According to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (subscription required), head coach Jamahl Mosley said he didn’t think Caldwell-Pope deserved to be called for a flagrant foul on that play, while guard Cole Anthony said the Magic play “the right way” and aren’t trying to hurt anyone. “We’re going to keep mucking it up,” Anthony added. “You’re just giving us good feedback.”
- The Wizards were voted the NBA’s second-worst organization in The Athletic’s latest player poll, with Brian Keefe receiving the most votes for the league’s worst coach. As Josh Robbins of The Athletic writes, those results suggest the Wizards have work to do to adjust the outside perception of the team, though veterans like Malcolm Brogdon and Khris Middleton have said since arriving in D.C. that they’ve been pleasantly surprised by how the organization functions.
Eastern Notes: Bucks, Lillard, Pritchard, Holiday, Beasley
After seeing his starters get thoroughly outplayed in the first two games of their first-round series vs. Indiana, Bucks head coach Doc Rivers is considering the idea of tweaking the lineup for Game 3, according to Eric Nehm of The Athletic. Whether it’s the personnel or the approach, something has to change on Friday, Rivers acknowledged.
“We’ve gotten off to two poor starts, and we’ve got to make an adjustment there, for sure,” the Bucks said following Tuesday’s Game 2 loss. “We’ll just see. We have time. We have 48 hours. I’m not gonna tell you what I’m doing right now because I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out, I’m very confident about this series. Very.”
The Bucks started Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, Kyle Kuzma, and Taurean Prince alongside Ryan Rollins in Game 1, with Damian Lillard replacing Rollins in Game 2. Those two units were the most frequently used Milwaukee lineups after the All-Star break, but they haven’t been effective so far in the playoffs — the starters were outscored by 15 points in about 17 minutes in Game 1 and by nine points in 16 minutes in Game 2.
“We don’t want to put ourselves in a hole early in the game,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think we’ve done it in two games. We also did it in the third quarter. It’s hard to play from behind. We just gotta be smarter the way we play, be more urgent when we start the game; hopefully we can be the one to set the tone and not them.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- In his first game back after being sidelined for over a month due to a blood clot, Lillard played 37 minutes on Tuesday and said he “felt pretty good,” though he acknowledged he still needs to work a little more on his cardio, per Michael Marot of The Associated Press. “I got a little winded, but I think everyone got a little winded,” said Lillard, who had 14 points and seven assists in the Bucks‘ Game 2 loss. “I wasn’t really thinking about if I was tired, it was just like I’m out here and I’ve got to do what I got to do.”
- Celtics guard and newly minted Sixth Man of the Year Payton Pritchard made a compelling case for an increased role by scoring 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting in 25 minutes of action in Sunday’s Game 1 win, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com. Pritchard is a strong candidate to get a minutes bump in Game 2 on Wednesday with Jayson Tatum considered doubtful to play.
- Whether or not Tatum is available, the Celtics would like to see more of the Jrue Holiday they got in Game 1, according to Jay King of The Athletic. Holiday took another step back on offense this season, posting his lowest scoring average (11.1 PPG) since his rookie year in 2009/10, but he has found many other ways to contribute. On Sunday, he made a trio of three-pointers and racked up three steals, prompting teammate Al Horford to tell reporters that Holiday “changed the game” with the energy he brought in the third quarter. “That’s the Jrue I love, you know what I mean?” Jaylen Brown added. “That’s the Jrue I remember competing against.”
- Pistons wing Malik Beasley has been sued by Daniel Hazan, his former agent, tweets Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The lawsuit alleges that Hazan’s agency paid Beasley a $650K advance on future marketing revenue and that the veteran swingman breached their agreement by signing with a new agency in February, Vorkunov explains, adding that Hazan is seeking $1MM.
Kings’ Perry Plans To Make Decision On Coach Within Next Week
New Kings general manager Scott Perry told reporters during his introductory press conference on Wednesday that he intends to make a decision on the team’s head coaching situation within the next week, per Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
Perry will have to determine whether he wants to retain interim head coach Doug Christie for the 2025/26 season or launch a search for a new coach.
Perry praised Christie on Wednesday, noting that he has known the former NBA guard since he was a player in Toronto and has spoken to him since being hired by the Kings on Monday. However, Sacramento’s new head of basketball operations also said he has been receiving calls from potential coaching candidates who are interested in the job and that he still needs to consider his options.
Christie, who had been an assistant under head coach Mike Brown, was promoted in December when the Kings parted ways with Brown following a 13-18 start to the season. Sacramento’s performance was up and down the rest of the way and the team was unable to secure a playoff spot through the play-in tournament, but Christie did post a winning record of 27-24.
Anderson has reported that Christie has a good chance to hang onto the job, but has stressed that nothing’s official yet.
Here are a few other notes from Perry’s first media session upon returning to the Kings:
- Perry, who briefly served as Sacramento’s VP of basketball operations in 2017, said he and Kings owner Vivek Ranadive have kept in touch since then, so when Ranadive decided to revamp the team’s front office, he and Perry had an easy conversation that developed quickly, according to James Ham of The Kings Beat (Twitter link).
- Addressing the point guard position and adding length and athleticism to the roster will be some of the top offseason priorities for the front office, Perry told reporters (Twitter link via Ham).
- According to Perry, Ranadive has “pledged his support and his resources” and empowered the new GM to make the personnel decisions necessary to build a sustainable winner in Sacramento (Twitter links via Ham).
- Asked about comments he made during a 2023 podcast appearance questioning whether Zach LaVine is a winning basketball player, Perry responded that he’s “not worrying about it haunting me,” adding that has already spoken to LaVine and that his job will be to build around the guard’s strengths (Twitter link via Ham).
- Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 in Sacramento has uploaded the full half-hour video of Perry’s Wednesday media session to Twitter. It can be viewed in full right here.
UNC’s Drake Powell Entering 2025 NBA Draft
North Carolina freshman Drake Powell has decided to declare for the 2025 NBA draft, he tells Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter link).
Powell has the option of testing the draft waters while maintaining his NCAA eligibility and then withdrawing from the process next month in order to return to school. However, neither Givony’s report nor Powell’s own announcement (via Instagram) says anything maintaining his college eligibility, so it sounds like he intends to go pro.
A 6’6″ wing, Powell started 24 of his 37 games for the Tar Heels in 2024/25, submitting relatively modest averages of 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 25.6 minutes per game.
Although his counting stats didn’t jump off the page, Powell has shown off legitimate potential as a three-and-D player. He made 37.9% of his outside shots as a freshman and Givony describes him as one of the best perimeter defenders in the 2025 draft class.
[RELATED: 2025 NBA Draft Early Entrants List]
Givony and Jeremy Woo rank Powell 31st overall on ESPN’s big board of 2025 prospects, meaning he’s viewed as a borderline first-round pick at this point.
Former Lottery Pick Jimmer Fredette Announces Retirement
Former BYU standout and NBA lottery pick Jimmer Fredette has announced his retirement from basketball, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press relays. Fredette published a social media post confirming the news (Twitter link).
“It’s time to say goodbye to basketball,” Fredette wrote. “I have loved every second of my career through the good and the bad! … Basketball has taken me all around this world: from Glens Falls NY, to BYU, the NBA, China, Greece, and even Team USA at the Olympics! This game and my love for it has shaped me into the person I am today and for that I am forever grateful. So many memories and amazing moments. It wasn’t always easy, but it was always worth it! The next journey starts now.”
An NCAA scoring champion and the Naismith College Player of the Year in his final season at BYU, Fredette was drafted 10th overall in 2011 on behalf of the Kings, who acquired his rights from Milwaukee in a draft-night deal.
The 6’2″ guard struggled to establish himself as a reliable NBA rotation player, averaging 6.0 points and 1.4 assists in 13.3 minutes per game across 241 career regular season appearances for Sacramento, Chicago, New Orleans, New York, and Phoenix from 2011-19.
Fredette, who is now 36, spent several years during his playing career overseas, establishing himself as a star in China with the Shanghai Sharks from 2016-19 and later returning to the Sharks for one more season. He also spent a year in Greece with Panathinaikos.
During the final act of his career, Fredette focused on 3×3 basketball and represented Team USA at several international competitions, including the 2023 FIBA 3×3 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics.
Fredette earned a variety of accolades over the course of his career, claiming MVP honors and three All-Star nods in the Chinese Basketball Association, winning a Greek League championship, and bringing home a pair of gold medals from the 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup and 2023 Pan American Games.