Key Dates for the NBA, Sacramento Kings Offseason

We now have some insight into the new front office’s goals to reshape this roster. Deadlines will spur action, and the dates below will give us more key clues into how we should expect the offseason to unfold and how each date and deadline might affect the Kings. 

June 23 was the first day teams could negotiate with their own pending free agents and extension candidates. The couple of days’ head start will be important for Sacramento as they look to retain UFAs Trey Lyles and Jake LaRavia and extend Keegan Murray. 

June 25-26 mark the second two-day NBA Draft, which was inexplicably re-formatted last year. Sacramento has a desire to move into the first round, but currently has just one pick at 42nd overall. 

June 29 is the last day for player and team options to be exercised for next season, and the last day for eligible players to receive their Qualifying Offers. This is an important date for the Kings, as their team option on Keon Ellis looms large. 

If Sacramento exercises Ellis’ option, they will either extend him next February or risk him hitting unrestricted free agency next summer. If they decline, Keon will be a restricted free agent this summer. Sacramento will then work to re-sign him, armed with the ability to match any offer sheet he receives. 

The Kings hold a team option on Isaac Jones, as well, and will need to decide on extending qualifying offers for two-way players Mason Jones and Isaiah Crawford, too. 

June 30 at 6 PM EST marks when teams can begin negotiating with FAs from other teams. This will be key for Sacramento as they touch base with potential targets. On the other side of the coin, LaRavia, Lyles, and potentially Ellis may start hearing from interested teams. Players can begin “agreeing to terms” with other teams here, but cannot sign the contract yet. 

July 1 at 12:01 AM EST is the beginning of the free agency moratorium, meaning minimum contracts can be signed and restricted free agents can sign offer sheets. This means that Ellis could sign an offer sheet from another team in RFA, leaving Sacramento with 2 days to decide whether they want to match the offer. 

July 1 is also the first day when teams can exercise their former first-round picks’ third and fourth-year team options, as well. Sacramento picking up their option on Devin Carter will be a formality. 

This is also the first day that rookies drafted this year can sign their contracts. This could be important because draft picks cannot be traded until 30 days after they sign their contract. Promptly signing their draft pick(s) to their contracts could be important for a Kings team that appears ready to wheel and deal. 

July 6 marks the end of the moratorium period. Pen can finally be put to paper on the agreements reached during the moratorium period, including Murray’s extension, Ellis’ potential restricted free agency, and Lyles and LaRavia’s unrestricted free agency. 

Zach LaVine is extension-eligible here as well, but the February trade means he is limited in the max offer he may receive. Should he want to ask for the most he could possibly receive, he will have to wait another month. 

July 6-9: California Classic takes place at the Chase Center. Of course, the Kings are not in the event that they started not long ago, so there is not much to see here. 

July 10-20 is the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, the first time we get to see the Kings’ draft pick(s) in action. There is plenty of smoke around Sacramento moving into the first round, so we may get our first look at several draft picks here. If they do not trade up, though, this will still be our first look at the 42nd overall pick. 

July 13 is the last day to withdraw a Qualifying Offer. This will not affect Sacramento unless they still have QOs out for M. Jones and Crawford. 

August 3 is the six-month anniversary of the trade that sent Zach Lavine to Sacramento. So, this is when LaVine becomes extension eligible at his true max number, as opposed to the limited max he could receive in July. 

August 29 is the last day to use waive and stretch provision. As the roster stands now, it is unlikely that the Kings will waive and stretch anyone, so this is not a deadline that affects them very much. 

October 18 is the last day to waive a player without a salary cap hit. Again, pending a trade or other roster movement, Sacramento will not spend much time sweating this. 

October 20 is the last day of the offseason, and the last day to extend Murray. If they do not reach an agreement, they have to wait for RFA next summer. It will be a compelling negotiation and may well end up getting pushed into next summer. 

The roster has to be set for opening day by 5 PM EST, too, meaning Sacramento can have as many as 15 players on standard contracts and three Two-Way contracts. 

Must be at the salary floor by this date, as well. Considering the substantial commitments Sacramento has on its books, they will have no trouble clearing the salary floor. 

Obviously, some of these dates are far more important than others. Nonetheless, there will be action soon as the NBA Draft is Wednesday and Thursday, with free agency beginning less than a week after that. Safe to say the next few weeks will be active.