When do these free agency moves really start being made?

Last year it was something like July 1st was official date, then July ~12th LeBron bomb.

 

Between now and June 30th, we will hear various decisions on player and team options. Most of the important ones will be closer to the 30th.

There will be tons of speculation between July 1st and the first day players can sign contracts (a week and a half to two weeks after the 1st). The big dogs will make their decisions first, and then there will be a flurry of activity for a week or two.

 

Last year it all hinged on where Lebron was going. A number of pieces fell into place the week after the Lebron to Cleveland announcement. I don't know if this year there will be as many cautious team waiting out the market on a super duper star. I would think there would be more movement sooner this year.

It's complicated though - teams can essentially make a trade before the draft for it to count on this year's books, or after the draft for it to count on next year's books. If you take Bima's thread for instance, it looks like Houston won't be consummating any trade until after the draft because of implications with them being so close to the cap line. But that's just Houston - maybe other teams are in the exact opposite position where if they are going to make a deal, they need to make it pre-draft...

 

Free Agency starts July 1.

There is a moratorium period from July 1, 2015 through July 8, 2015. Players cannot sign during this time.

You will hear about teams/players declining or accepting options next week.

 

* can't officially sign.

but you hear about FAs agreeing to terms on a contract during the moratorium.

 

Well, the draft is Thursday so I think we'll start hearing some decent size stuff then. The bigger stuff happens close-ish to July 1st. Last year was an anomaly because of Lebron's decision.