The CBA Glossary

What teams can do during the July Moratorium

From 12.01am on 1st July, teams can do the following: ⓘArticle II (Uniform Player Contract) Section 15 (Moratorium Period):

(a) During the Moratorium Period,

(i) a player and a Team may negotiate over the terms and conditions of a Player Contract or an Extension that may be entered into following the conclusion of the Moratorium Period;

(ii) a player and a Team may negotiate an Offer Sheet (as defined in Article XI, Section 5(b)) that may be entered into beginning at 12:01 p.m. eastern time on the first day of the Moratorium Period;

(iii) a player may accept any Required Tender, Qualifying Offer, or “Maximum Qualifying Offer” (as defined in Article XI, Section 4(a)(ii)) that is outstanding; and

(iv) a Team may exercise a Two-Way Contract’s Standard NBA Contract Conversion Option in accordance with Article II, Section 11(f) above.

- Negotiate with their own free agents
- Negotiate with other team's free agents
- Negotiate extensions, both veteran and rookie scale
- Negotiate offer sheets
- Sign restricted free agents to their qualifying offers, including maximum qualifying offers
- Sign tenders
- Waive players
- Claim players off waivers
- Convert a two-way contract into a standard NBA contractt

- Sign offer sheets (twelve hours after negotiations began)
- Sign players with the Second Round Exception
- Sign players to two-way contracts
- Sign rookie scale contracts
- Convert Exhibit 10s into two-way contracts
- Sign players (be they from other teams, rookies, their own FAs, or wherever) to the minimum salary, as long as it for no more than two years (which is the maximum length permissible via the Minimum Salary Exception anyway)

What teams cannot do during the July Moratorium

- Made any trades other than waiver claims
- Sign free agents for any contracts other than the above (including, but not limited to, using cap space and/or MLEs)
- Sign extensions ⓘArticle II (Uniform Player Contract) Section 15 (Moratorium Period):

(c) Prior to the conclusion of the Moratorium Period, players (or, for clarity, any person or entity acting with authority on behalf of a player) and Teams shall each be prohibited from stating publicly that the player and Team have reached agreement on the terms of a Player Contract (or amendment to a Player Contract) that, pursuant to Article II, Section 15, cannot be entered into until after the conclusion of such Moratorium Period; provided, however, that the foregoing prohibition shall not apply to players with respect to the Moratorium Period of the 2023-24 Salary Cap Year.

This, then, prohibits the majority of free agency movement for a week. Almost all of

Before the moratorium period ends, neither teams nor players (including agents or anyone acting on their behalf) are allowed to publicly announce that they have agreed to a contract that cannot yet be officially signed. You will see leaks among the media all the time, but you will not - or should not, at least - see anyone on the team or agent side put their name to it. (During the 2023 moratorium, players and their representatives were expressly allowed by the CBA to publicly discuss or announce agreements, even though teams remained subject to the restriction. I do not know why.) ⓘArticle XI (Free Agency) Section 1 (General Rules):

(c) Prior to the conclusion of the Moratorium Period, players (or, for clarity, any person or entity acting with authority on behalf of a player) and Teams shall each be prohibited from stating publicly that the player and Team have reached agreement on the terms of a Player Contract (or amendment to a Player Contract) that, pursuant to Article II, Section 15, cannot be entered into until after the conclusion of such Moratorium Period; provided, however, that the foregoing prohibition shall not apply to players with respect to the Moratorium Period of the 2023-24 Salary Cap Year.

When it is

Unless extraordinary circumstances require otherwise, the moratorium begins with the season - on 1st July every year. It ends at 12pm on 6th July, regardless of whether the 6th is a regular business day.

A new wrinkle, however, sees the negotiation process begin slightly sooner. Specifically, beginning with the close of business on 30th June (which takes place at 5pm Eastern Time), negotiations with external free agents can begin. Teams used to have to wait until midnight between the two dates, but this suited no one, and has thus been brought forward to a more sociable hour.

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