Report: NBA Free Agency Moratorium Reduced To Five Days

Remember last summer’s NBA free agency moratorium period, when DeAndre Jordan agreed to sign with the Mavericks before reneging on his verbal commitment and re-signing with the Clippers on a crazy night that included an emoji war? A similar occurrence is less likely this summer, as Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the NBA and players union have agreed to shorten the moratorium to five days:

The moratorium coincides with the beginning of the new NBA season on July 1, and is a necessary period in which no transactions are allowed as the NBA finalizes revenue calculations and sets the new salary cap. But teams and free agents negotiate during this dead period, and agree to handshake deals to be consummated upon the end of the moratorium. When somebody goes back on their word, it blows up the entire system because later deals are agreed to upon the assumption that previous deals will hold up.

Last summer the moratorium was seven days, July 1 to July 8, but this summer it was supposed to last a full 10 days, July 1 to July 11, because of an awkwardly placed weekend. Rather than risk free agency turn into a debacle, the NBA and NBPA agreed to examine the books quicker.