NBA Free Agency 2018: When does free agency start?

CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 20: Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder defends against LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers during the game at Quicken Loans Arena on January 20, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

When the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. ET on July 1, NBA free agency will have officially begun.

Bracing yourself for NBA free-agent fireworks? Make sure you’re on Twitter at midnight ET on July 1.

Once the clock strikes 12:01 a.m., free agents are allowed to begin negotiations with any team on a new contract. They can’t reach a binding agreement until the end of the July Moratorium on July 6 at noon ET, but they can come to terms on a new deal prior to that.

This year’s free-agency period figures to move at a glacial pace at first, much as it has the last two times LeBron James was a free agent (2010 and 2014). Teams in the bidding for James — and for Paul George, to a lesser extent — must preserve the requisite amount of cap space to sign them until they make their respective decisions.

Teams that aren’t in contention for James or George may opt to strike quickly, going after a plan B such as DeAndre Jordan or DeMarcus Cousins while the rest of the league remains in a waiting game. The Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings could all be staring at $15-plus million in salary-cap space, according to Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale, which would allow them to exploit market inefficiencies as other teams stay on the sidelines until James and George pick their new homes.

Restricted free agents likewise may not be high on the priority totem pole once free agency kicks off. While they’re allowed to agree upon the terms of offer sheets during the July Moratorium, they can’t officially sign one until the moratorium lifts. At that point, their incumbent team will have 48 hours to decide whether to match the offer, which means the team extending the offer sheet must keep that amount of cap space reserved until at least July 8 at noon ET.

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Once James and George are off the market, expect a deluge of signings over the following days. Ring-chasers may follow them to their respective locales via salary-cap exceptions, while the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and Boston Celtics all figure to round out their championship-caliber cores with minor signings, too.

With James, George, Cousins and others on the free-agent market, expect plenty of fireworks over the coming days and weeks.

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