Rockets, Celtics Pushing Idea To Have Draft After Free Agency Begins

[hpantazo]

Well, in the short term, it would allow us to sign Kyrie next summer and still use our 2019
Draft pick collection in a trade for Anthony Davis before the draft, thus avoiding the Rose rule issue

[saltlover]

What do we think a proposed schedule would look like? 

July 1 - Teams can start talking to free agents (I think you need two weeks after NBA Finals which we know can go at least until June 17 potentially)
July 8 - Signings can become official
July 15ish - NBA Draft
August 1 through August 15 - Summer League

Something like that.  I’d target the draft for the second Thursday after July 1st, and maybe try to start summer league a few days earlier so it doesn’t bleed into NFL Preseason too much and get drowned out.

[Moranis]

What do we think a proposed schedule would look like? 

July 1 - Teams can start talking to free agents (I think you need two weeks after NBA Finals which we know can go at least until June 17 potentially)
July 8 - Signings can become official
July 15ish - NBA Draft
August 1 through August 15 - Summer League

A rough outline was in the article.

[Moranis]

I think it would take a lot away from the draft.  I'm not necessarily opposed to the idea, I just think it would diminish draft night a lot.  I think it would also greatly affect free agency.  Much more so than a sport like the NFL. 

I just think a lot teams just wouldn't sign a bunch of the mid-tier or lower free agents till after the draft to avoid that type of situation, which puts teams in a much worse position then now (because a lot of those signings wouldn't happen till after summer league started).  Then what do you do with summer league, do you delay it or just keep it the same time but with a lot less time to prepare your rookies.

Sure, for the teams chasing James, George, Cousins, etc. it would be nice to know their decisions before the draft, but I think it really is only those top tier guys that would have any real benefit to the draft being move.  So for a team like the Cavs, knowing James decision before the draft would have had a pretty dramatic effect on what they could have done in the draft.  For example, if they knew James was going to stay they could have more easily moved their draft pick for Kemba Walker, or something like that.  Or on the other side, if they knew James was leaving they could have moved Love for a draft pick, like Love for 4 and Parsons, or something like that.  But outside of those few players/teams, I don't think moving the draft until after free agency really matters and I do think it would cause a lot of issues for the mid-tier to lower free agents.

I completely disagree with your first paragraph.  I think a really nice result of swapping the order would be that the NBA draft can actually be about the draft, without so much commentary on speculating which free agents might go where.  This night should be about the draftees, not about what the Lakers roster might look like depending on what free agents they might sign.

I think your point exactly hits why the draft should be moved behind the start of free agency.  It's not the uncertainty of the mid/lower tier free agents that is the "uncertainty of FA" being discussed.  Where the big names fall are basically the entirety of NBA free agency.  (Smart) Teams aren't changing/trading their draft picks based on if they can sign Brook Lopez or Jamal Crawford to a two year contract.  I don't think its going to hurt or cause issues for the mid-lower tier of free agents... they money and cap space isn't going away... it just delays their eventual signings.

But the delay is a real problem.  The season and off season are both very long.  This makes them longer such that there really isn't a break at all. 

And, if you think the draft becomes about the draftees after guys like Lebron James have signed, you are going to be disappointed.  It will just be about how those guys fit with the free agents that have already signed, and how they make a team a contender, etc.  That part won't change at all and might actually make that aspect worse. 

[action781]

And, if you think the draft becomes about the draftees after guys like Lebron James have signed, you are going to be disappointed.  It will just be about how those guys fit with the free agents that have already signed, and how they make a team a contender, etc.  That part won't change at all and might actually make that aspect worse.

If I'm going to hear about non-draftee content, I'd rather hear analysis about actual teams rather than speculation though.  I'd rather hear 3 minutes about how Lebron acutally fits in with team X he signed with when that team is on the clock rather than 1 minute of how what team rosters X, Y, Z might look like with Lebron every time one of them are on the clock.

[ThaPreacher]

I think its a great idea.  It makes almost too much sense.

And that might be the actual problem....

[pearljammer10]

They should be. It makes sense the most sense.

[Roy H.]

It would free up some trades. For instance, draft day trades involving sign and trades are impossible currently.

I see no downside to this idea.