NBA: Free Agency 2019: Free Agents, Explanations, Rules, Options, Terms, Data

Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving or Klay Thompson can become free agents next summer. Here you can find a summary of all information about the NBA Free Agency 2019. Who is Restrictred Free Agent? Who is Unrestricted? Which team options, which player options are anchored in the contracts? In addition, we explain the most important terms, data and rules around the Free Agency at a glance.

Age: The deadline is August 1, 2018.

Note: This list does not include all players who are in their rookie contracts, as they always automatically contain team options.

Here is a detailed overview for all players who will become a Free Agent in the Offseason 2018. UFA stands for Unrestricted Free Agent, RFA for Restricted.

Players like Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, who would only become a free agent by dragging a contract option, can be found in the table of player and team options (see above).

Unrestricted Free Agent becomes a player when his contract expires and there are no further options in his contract. He can then freely decide on his new team.

If a player is Restricted Free Agent, his current team can match any offer from another team, i.e. keep up with the offer of the competition. In this case, the player must stay with his previous team.

The Qualifying Offer is an option that allows the team to make its player a Restricted Free Agent. A qualifying offer must be submitted by 30 June. If the team does not do this, the player automatically becomes an unrestricted free agent.

If a team wants to sign a Restricted Free Agent of another team, they must submit an offer sheet to the player. The previous team has two days after the agreement to match the offer.

If a contract includes a player option, the player has the option to extend his contract for another season. If the player does not drag this option, he becomes Unrestricted Free Agent.

The same applies to the team option. If this option is included in the contract, a team has the option of extending a player’s contract for another season. If the team does not remove the option, the player becomes Unrestricted Free Agent.

According to current forecasts, the cap will rise from around 101.9 million dollars at present to around 109 million dollars for the 2018/19 season. However, the NBA’s calculations are constantly being adjusted and may well change before the Free Agency begins in 2019. Last season the calculations were quite accurate, the cap was ultimately only one million higher than forecast.

The luxury tax threshold – at $123.7 million this season – could therefore be raised to around $132 million.

Unlike in the summer of 2018, this time numerous teams have plenty of cap space to sign not just one but two well-known free agents. Currently, four teams could have at least 60 million in Cap Space – Brooklyn, Sacramento, Indiana and Dallas.

However, this would in part mean that these teams do not exercise options on various players. If all the options are included, the Mavericks have the most space under the salary cap for the Free Agency 2019 at 15 million.