On Sunday morning, the NBA released several critical details for the upcoming 2020 season. Perhaps most importantly, the league’s trade moratorium, which has been in place since February, will be lifted on Monday morning at 9:00 am PT. Expect the rumor mill to accelerate to full throttle over the next few hours with that announcement.
In addition to opening the trade window in less than 24 hours, the league also shared a few dates that will specifically impact Sacramento Kings players. December 21st, the day before the regular season begins, will mark the last day that players can sign extensions, including De’Aaron Fox, who is eligible for a 5-year, approximately $150 million rookie-scale extension this offseason. Player and team options were also determined, with both deadlines being marked on November 19th at 2:00 pm PT. That’s an important distinction, as it will affect Monte McNair’s ability to trade either Nemanja Bjelica (non-guaranteed contract) or Jabari Parker (player option) if those decisions aren’t made prior to Wednesday evening. The good news for the Kings is that they at least control Bjelica’s contract if they choose to make that decision a little earlier than required.
The NBA also announced the projected salary cap and luxury tax lines for the next few seasons:
| Season | Salary Cap | Luxury Tax |
| 2020-2021 | $109.1M | $132.6M |
| 2021-2022 | $112.2M | $136.6M |
| 2022-2023 | $115.7M | $140M |
| 2023-2024 | $119.2M | $144.9M |
Those numbers are reflective of an increase of about 3% per season, which is the minimum year-to-year raise agreed to by the players and ownership last week. If either side is unhappy with the progress of the league in the next few years, the collective bargaining agreement can be terminated at the end of the 2022-2023 season, when it was set to naturally expire, but also at the end of the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 campaigns. That modification will allow both parties to potentially reset the league’s guidelines after each year as the impact of COVID-19 continues to evolve.
In regard to the potential play-in tournament, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that while the idea still needs to be formally approved by the NBA Board of Governors, it’s expected to pass without any issues. The 7th and 8th seed in each conference will only need to win once to remain in their position, while a team in either 9th or 10th place will need to win twice in a row to steal one of the remaining postseason slots. The tournament will take place shortly after the regular season ends, likely from May 17th – May 21st.
With the insanity of the next few days, here’s a quick recap of what begins when:
- November 16th at 9:00 am PT: trade moratorium lifts
- November 18th at 5:30 pm PT: NBA Draft
- November 19th at 2:00 pm PT: Deadline for team/player options
- November 20th at 3:00 pm PT: Free agency negotiations can begin
- November 20th: Free agency officially opens, contracts may be signed
- November 23rd/24th: Most traded player exceptions (TPE) expire
- December 1st: Start of training camp
- December 11th-19th: NBA preseason (3 – 4 games per team)
- December 22nd: Start of NBA regular season
Now, let’s get some Kings-centric trade rumors going!
This year’s draft class may not be all that great, but the next week in the NBA is going to be very exciting. Trades, draft and free agency all by weeks end. IMO, the NBA always seem to have the best offseason for fans.
Totally agree. I feel like every single NBA offseason has so much action and players switching teams. Love when the season starts up again and the first few days of game highlights you find yourself saying , oh yeah, he’s on this or that team now.
Would be a very interesting couple of weeks and I’m excited! Just heard that Aaron Nesmith is about to either meet or workout for the Kings this upcoming days.. He’s my pick at #12 unless if Haliburton or Hayes miraculously drop to 12.
Hayes would be awesome playmakingis a premium in todays nba weve seen what having multiple creators does for an offense and this dudes IQ is a must for us to take another level. I can see him being a 6th man while being on the finishing lineup. He is the only player worth pulling a trade-up for and of Atlanta wants buddy plus a vet for the 6th and it nets up arguably this years best prospect I hope we do it. Gives us the flexibility he covets while drafting the best prospect.
If they have the chance to move up and get Hayes, they better do it.
Glad to see Bjelica will be available for trade if needed. Not a Parker fan but if he opts in I see him as an occasional big when the Kings need a little offense. I would love another first round pick 16 or lower.
Probably already been talked about, but it sounds like the Lakers and Thunder have a deal “in principle.” Schroder for Green + #28. It’s going to be a flurry starting tomorrow at noon eastern. The next month is going to be exciting.
I didn’t think LA could trade another 1st pick this year since they traded last years to NO
They won’t, they’ll trade Green and whoever the Thunder want them to draft at #28 for Schroder on draft night or after.
If OKC is willing to trade Dennis Schroder, maybe Steven Adams is on the market too. Harrison Barnes for Adams straight up.
I was thinking something similar. Looks like OKC are sellers right now, but don’t think they are going to want Barnes. My guess is youth, smaller deals, and/or picks.
Maybe packaging any combo of Holmes, Nemajna, and/or Parker plus a 2nd rounder or two?
If there’s a deal out there that brings Steven Adams to Sacramento, I’d love to jump onto that bandwagon right now. Yay for irrational rumors!
Yeah, trading an expiring player for an older, worse player on a bigger contract isn’t really the standard rebuild model.
Eh? Adams is younger than Holmes and Nemanja, and how is Adams worse than Holmes or Nemanja?
To me it’s the long game of getting Adams’ super expiring and he fills a role as a defensive big. It’s more about asset management than anything else. To me he is a slightly redundant but better version of Holmes. He is more physical, rebounds better, and sets better screens.
I think you two agree: Barnes for Adam’s doesn’t make sense.
I know some fans want to chase a high 2021 pick based upon the strong headwinds the Kings are facing. But between 10 making the play-in and 15 seasons being the record, pretty sure the Kings will chase the play-in as long as possible. The Kings would totally punt on a top three pick to finish 10th, get knocked out by seven, claim the play-in game ended their playoffs streak.
That would be very Kings of them.
I don’t really get the whole thing about assuming decisions will remain the same even though the decision makers have changed. It’s not like McNair is bound by precedent.
I’ve not been online much, has there been any mention of how long it might take to trade a draft pick after you sign him? Or is still the normal 30 days?
(This just basically means that if the Kings were to trade the pick, they can’t sign the guy first. Not a big deal.)
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