The NBA has firmed up its schedule for what will be a hectic time for teams this fall, deciding on Oct. 16 as the date for the 2020 draft and saying clubs can begin talking to free agents two days later.
The annual moratorium will begin at 12:01 a.m. EDT on Oct. 19 and continue through noon on Oct. 23, the league told teams on Saturday in a memo obtained by The Associated Press.
As was the case last season, teams and free agents can begin negotiating six hours before the moratorium, in this case 6 p.m. EDT on Oct. 18.
It could be a wildly busy few days in October for the NBA. If the schedule for the restarted 2019-20 season at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida, goes as planned, Game 7 of the NBA Finals could be held Oct. 13, followed by the draft three days later and then free agency almost immediately after that.
By setting the draft date, the NBA also made Aug. 17 the early entry deadline and Oct. 6 the early entry withdrawal dates. It’s unclear if that will change the schedule the NCAA laid out earlier this month, when it said college players would have “until 10 days after the NBA draft combine or Aug. 3, whichever comes first” to withdraw from the postponed draft and retain their eligibility.