The NBA has announced that the 2021-22 free agency period will begin on August 2nd at 5:00 p.m. CT. The moratorium period on deals will last four days, and players will then be allowed to begin signing with teams on August 6th at 11:01 p.m. CT.
The following key dates have been announced: pic.twitter.com/pKUJ7ETW3c
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 19, 2021
The update means that free agent conversations will begin a little over one week after the NBA Draft, which the league has set for July 29th. Last season, only two days separated the draft and the beginning of free agency negotiations, so this change will allow organizations to have some more familiar breathing room before the two significant events.
We knew the free agency start date would be circled in a big red marker back at the trade deadline. The organization traded their first-round pick to the Orlando Magic in the Nikola Vucevic trade, and while it does have a Top-4 protection, this moved signified that the front office had at least some level of confidence in their ability to use free agency to improve this roster in the near-term. Likewise, although the acquisition of Vucevic has eaten into the team’s projected cap space, they are still in the running to have enough flexibility to make several moves/upgrades.
We’ll go over the nitty-gritty finances when the season is over. For now, I’ll just drop each player’s future contract situation below just so we all have a general idea of where decisions will need to be made:
Under Contract
Zach LaVine: 2021-22 ($19.5M), 2022-21 (UFA)
Nikola Vucevic: 2021-22 ($24.0M), 2022-23 ($22.0M), 2023-24 (UFA)
Coby White: 2021-22 ($5.8M), 2022-23 ($7.4M *club option), 2023-24 (Qualifying Offer)
Patrick Williams: 2021-22 ($7.4M), 2022-23 ($7.7M), 2023-24 ($7.8M)
Troy Brown Jr.: 2021-22 ($3.3M), 2022-23 (Qualifying Offer)
Al-Farouq Aminu: 2021-22 (10.2M), 2022-23 (UFA)
On the Market
Lauri Markkanen: 2021-22 (Restriced free agent)
Daniel Theis: 2021-22 (Unrestricted free agent)
Garrett Temple: 2021-22 (UFA)
Denzel Valentine: 2021-22 (UFA)
Decisions to Make
Thaddeus Young: 2021-22 (eat partially guaranteed $6M and waive, or fully guarantee at $14.2M)
Tomas Satoransky: 2021-22 (eat partially guaranteed $5M and waive, or fully guarantee at $10M)
Ryan Arcidiacono: 2021-22 (club option at $3M)
Javonte Green: 2021-22 (QO)
Adam Mokoka: 2021-22 (QO)
Devon Dotson: 2021-22 (QO)