NBA free agency is expected to begin no later than early December, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported in a wide-ranging interview with players union executive director Michele Roberts.
“We can’t go much beyond (Dec. 1),” Roberts told Charania. “We had a projected BRI, which I think teams appropriately planned for. I don’t think we can deviate much from where we projected the cap to be ($115 million, latest projection).”
Roberts admitted that the NBA is “revenue challenged” while in the throes of the pandemic, adding that some offseason negotiations between the league and players await. She met with NBA commissioner Adam Silver on Sunday to set the table for negotiations, Charania reported.
“It may not reflect what people think is the likely BRI, but since I’m of the view this game is not dead and it will rebound, we can do some things with the cap to allow for a free market and not completely destroy what the teams were expecting the cap to be as they were planning ahead,” Roberts said. “Frankly, I think that’s going to be one of the easier negotiations, figuring out a cap.”
Because of uncertainty regarding revenue for the 2020-21 season, player movement for the upcoming free agency period is expected to be fairly subdued. Tristan Thompson (Cleveland), Carmelo Anthony (Portland) and Joe Harris (Brooklyn) are expected to be among the most-coveted unrestricted free agents.
The NBA Draft is scheduled for Nov. 18.
- RELATED | NBA free agents by position, contract status
- RELATED | Roberts meets with Silver as negotiations await
