<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sources: NBA's been calling GM's today, probing on reports of FA meetings already set for Friday. "Rules" prohibit contact before midnight.</p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/748659143834218496">June 30, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Practice of pre-set 12:01 AM meetings among teams/agents/players has been going on for years -- and rule has seldom, if ever, been enforced.</p>— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/748659713148063745">June 30, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
i was literally just about to bring this up. how exactly are meetings held at 12:01 when people apparently can't talk before then. or you see a report that wade has put out "feelers" to san antonio. how exactly can you put out feelers without breaking the rules? i mean i personally don't care. i like that there is essentially a rush at the beginning as all the meetings start at the same time and that can only happen with pre-talks. i don't want actual talks to start at 12:01 and then another few days to go by to actually start the meetins so i'm fine with the unofficial talks. i guess you could have a meeting set-up period before talks but that just seems silly.
They should just have meetings set up through the NBA a few days before the 1st. Too hard to regulate the way it is, IMO.
NBA call to Twolves: NBA: so how are things? Layden: good, great to hear from you guys, how are you? NBA: we're good thanks. Listen, we're just calling about the new salary cap Layden: yes, it's much bigger now NBA: yes, well, you know there is a salary floor right? Layden: uh-huh NBA: and have you planned to spend up to that amount? Layden: and over it, we should be fine NBA: great to hear, we really want your franchise to succeed - you've got people teed up for contracts then? Layden: heh, yeah, we've had talks with a couple of guys already about coming to the club, and they're excited about what we're doing with Tom (Thibodeau) coming in, and, yeah, we've got some things in the pipeline, looking really good NBA: **silence** Layden: heh, yeah, looking r-e-a-l good with the guys we've spoken to about coming here. NBA: (pause) so you've spoken to some free agents Layden: yeah, I mean, no, um, what? NBA: **silence** Layden: oh not this crap again...
What does the NBA expect, when they compress the moratorium down from 3 weeks, to 11 days, and now down to 6 this year? I think it's good they can finish their accounting faster and faster each year to set the salary cap, but teams/players now need to move faster to agree to deals before the moratorium ends...as some teams and players will always want to sign on the first day possible. Agree with RV6, league didn't think this through and should be more proactive to allow teams/players to organize July 1st face-to-face through the league office, maybe. But anything set through league office will easily be leaked to Woj, anyhow. How does the NFL handle this? What are the rules?
League wants to crack down but there have been rumors of players to teams for a week. They aren't doing a very good job of cracking down.
I think the rule is pretty stupid to be honest, players are gonna want to play where they want to play simple as that. NBA trying to crack down and enforce this rule is just a joke because all they're really doing is artificially preventing the inevitable, plus teams can always course their talks through other players like what Riley did using Dwade to talk to LBJ and Bosh. Just imagine if you apply this to the corporate world, you hate your job but you can't interview for positions at other companies because there is a "ban" on hiring, companies that get in contact with you until the ban is lifted would be penalized by the gov't. However other people working for other companies and even under industries face no such restriction (in the same way that team could contact players from Euro league and other leagues). The whole thing is just a joke imho