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The old NBA free agency date is no more.
On Wednesday the league announced that it would no longer begin free agency at 12:01 a.m. ET on July 1. Instead, the free agency period will commence at 6:00 p.m. ET on June 30.
The NBA has official moved up the start of free agency to 6 PM ET on June 30
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 24, 2019
Furthermore, the league is also moving up the date at which teams and agents can schedule meetings. Starting at 6:00 p.m. ET on June 29, the two sides can begin to arrange meetings. However, they cannot meet or discuss contracts until the June 30 start time.
This is a good move by the league, as . . . well . . . more people are awake at 6 p.m. than at midnight. There are always a good number of signings within the first hour or two of the start date, and it’s better to have those in the evening than the middle of the night.
And hey . . . it’s six hours sooner that we may get a conclusion in the Kevin Durant sweepstakes.