Nus Term Starting Date

NBA announces start date for 2021 free agency

The NBA free agency period will begin in early August, the league announced today, and will have a slightly longer moratorium window than last year’s free agency.

Per the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association, free agency will begin on Aug. 2 at 6 p.m. ET, which is when teams can begin negotiating with free agents. There will be a moratorium period from Aug. 3 until Aug. 6 at 12:01 p.m. ET, which is when teams can begin signing free agents.

Last year, negotiations with free agents began at 6 p.m. ET on Nov. 20, with signings permitted starting at 12:01 p.m. ET on Nov. 22. That was a quicker window than usual for free agency in the NBA, which typically has about a week spanning the start of talks and the beginning of signings.