NBA teams are making preparations for 22 squads to make their way to Orlando in an attempt to finish the 2019-20 season. Squads will begin reporting over the coming weeks, with the current plan indicating that games will tip off on July 31 in a mad dash to name a champion for this campaign.
As part of the bubble league, teams will reportedly be allowed to carry 17-player rosters, as fears about injuries after such a long layoff and the potential that a player could get COVID-19 both exist. We learned on Saturday that these expanded rosters will be put together in a one-week period next week, as Shams Charania of The Athletic reports that teams will have from June 23-30 to conduct business in a transaction window.
The NBA has set the transaction window for its 30 teams: June 23 (12 pm ET) to June 30 (11:59 pm ET), sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 20, 2020
This transaction window won’t put every potential transaction on the table — apologies to those who were hoping that trades would be allowed for a week — but teams will have a few courses of action for how they can expand their rosters.
Teams can conduct rest of season contracts, substitute players ($183,115 minimum for two years of service), two-way contracts, and waivers during the window. https://t.co/bA9q7J4Axc
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 20, 2020
This is not the only news we received on Saturday about how the next few months will look. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the league plans to hold its draft on Oct. 16 — three days after a potential Game 7 should the NBA Finals require one — and have free agency open up on Oct. 18.