The NBA was mulling a modification to the moratorium period. According to NBA.com, each season the NBA has a moratorium period in which teams may hold negotiations but cannot sign contracts. It’s for unrestricted free agents to receive calls and they can verbally agree to new contracts. This year it was from July 1st at midnight through July 8th. The first day they could sign their contracts was on July 9th. The reason the NBA is looking to alter this was because of DeAndre Jordan. He verbally agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks but instead returned to the L.A. Clippers. Should the NBA change the rule for the moratorium period for unrestricted free agents?
Basketball is the only major sport to have a moratorium period. In other sports where there is an oral agreement an athlete can sign a contract on the first day of free agency. In the NBA a spoken agreement doesn’t necessarily mean that a player must sign with that team. They agree on a contract but the athlete can change their mind because he hasn’t signed the contract. It’s pretty much going on the individual’s word.
This has been a hot topic because of the DeAndre Jordan situation. The NBA is conducting their NBA summer meetings in Las Vegas with owners and team executives. According to ESPN Commissioner of the NBA, Adam Silver said, “Nobody had a great idea, frankly, in terms of how to change it. I think there was some discussion about whether the moratorium potentially should be a bit shorter. But as I’ve said the other day, it’s an imperfect system. And we still think we’re striking the right balance between teams having the opportunity to talk to players when they become free agents and creating certainty at some point when contracts are entered into.”
This is an easy fix. All the NBA needs to do is abolish the moratorium period for unrestricted free agents. That way if teams come to an agreement with a player, they can sign a contract. There won’t be the possibility for a player to change his mind and not take the deal that had been agreed upon. If the moratorium period stays in place, the NBA might see more players who agreed to a deal with one team and head back to the team they were on before they became a free agent.
How should the NBA change the moratorium period?
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