With Conclusion of the 2019-20 Season, What’s Next for the Charlotte Hornets?

Most of next season’s key dates are still unknown and subject to negotiation. However, there are bits of data we can use to make some predictions.

While Charlotte missed a valuable opportunity for extra practice and game time without qualifying for the Orlando Bubble, the NBA’s allowance of in-market mini-camp bubbles for teams excluded from the Restart offered a chance for the team to reconvene and practice in-earnest for the first time since March.

With the conclusion of those bubbles last week, the NBA’s immediate future and offseason timeline is more nebulous. Here’s what we know about it so far:

• The NBA draft will take place on November 18 after originally being scheduled for October 16.
• According to the previous draft date, the free agency moratorium period (a “limbo” where free agents can negotiate with teams but can’t officially sign contracts for the next season) would have begun two days later at 6 pm October 18. It would have run until noon of October 23, at which point, free agents could have signed official contracts (the normal moratorium period usually runs 7 days).
• NBPA executive director Michele Roberts has stated that free agency is expected to start no later than December 1. This would place the expected beginning of the moratorium period in the range of November 20–December 1, and it will likely last 4-7 days. Because the league is open and the trade deadline hasn’t been set, trades can take place at any time.

Note: the beginning of free agency is contingent on a salary cap and luxury tax line being set. As I outlined in a previous article, the cap is projected to be between $109-$115 million, with the luxury tax at $132-$138 million based on the tax threshold historically being roughly 20% higher than the cap.

• NBA commissioner Adam Silver has suggested that the 2020-21 season will likely begin late January to early February, and the league will hope to feature 82 games per team with live audiences in some capacity.

Extrapolating last year’s preseason timeline, here’s what I predict for important dates leading up to the start of play in 2020-21:

• NBA Draft: November 18, 2020
• Free agency moratorium: 6 pm November 28–noon December 4, 2020
• Deadline to apply the stretch provision: December 19, 2020 (this date is usually ~2 months before the start of the season, but it’s safe to say it will be closer this year. Placing the deadline here allows teams to make a decision between winter holidays)
• Deadline to issue contract offers to second-round picks before they become free agents: January 4, 2021
• Beginning of training camp: January 9, 2021
• Last day to waive non-guaranteed players: January 30, 2021
• Deadline to cut roster to 14-15 players, sign extensions, and convert Exhibit 10 contracts to two-ways: February 1, 2021
• Start of the regular season: February 2, 2021

Note: the NBA regular season usually starts on a Tuesday. January 18 is also a likely start date considering the league’s traditional celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. If the NBA follows its standard scheduling window, the regular season would end roughly July 21, 2021. This would put the conclusion of the Finals around late October, 2020. For this reason, the window for regular season scheduling will likely be condensed if the league follows through on its goal of a full 82 games (for example, playing multiple games against the same team in a home series MLB-style). It is also likely the NBPA attempts to negotiate fewer games for the 2020-21 season.