KEY DATES
Below are the key dates for a year in the NBA, starting from the beginning of each salary cap year (July 1) to the end (June 30). These key dates are currently tied to the 2021-22 season, where the normal dates had to be adjusted because of COVID, and will be updated for future seasons.
Off-SEASON
August 2, 2021 (6pm eastern) — Beginning of upcoming salary cap year’s moratorium period
August 3 — Start of salary cap year
August 6 (12:01 noon eastern) — Teams may sign free agents to contracts
August 8-17 — Summer league
September 1 — Waived player’s protected compensation for the upcoming season can no longer be stretched for salary cap purposes
September 27 — First date players may report to their teams if the team is participating in preseason games outside of North America (games in China, India and China)
September 28 — Training camp opens for teams participating in preseason outside of North America
September 30 — First date all other veteran players may report to their teams
PRE-SEASON
September 30 — Pre-season games begin
October 1 — Training camp opens for all other teams
October 18 — Pre-season ends
October 21 — Rosters set for opening day
REGULAR SEASON
October 19 — Start of the 2021-2022 regular season
December 15 — Teams may trade free agents that they signed in the off-season that did not play for that team in the prior season
January 5, 2022 — 10-day contracts may now be signed
January 10 —
All contracts (other than two-way contracts) guaranteed for remainder of the season
Unused salary cap exceptions (other than the traded player exception, the minimum player salary exception, and the disabled player exception) are reduced daily on a pro-rata basis
January 15 —
Last day to sign two-way contracts
Last day to apply for a disabled player exception
Teams may trade free agents that they re-signed in the off-season
January 20 — All two-way contracts are guaranteed for remainder of the season
February 1 — Any agreement by the player to give up their compensation protection in case they re-injure a specific condition (set forth in Exhibit 3 to the player’s uniform player contract) no longer applies to this season
February 6 (3pm eastern) — Trade deadline
February 18-20 — All-Star weekend
March 1 —
Playoff eligibility waiver deadline
Teams and players can no longer renegotiate a contract from March 1 through June 30
April 10 — Regular season ends
April 12-15 — Play-in tournament
April 16 — Playoffs begin
June 19 — Last possible date for NBA finals
June 23 — NBA draft