NBA free agency 2019 and the players who have turned into free agents are making the headlines in the sports world. Before we start on to this, many sports and basketball fans are confused about what exactly free agency means and how does it function?
Well, free agency in simple words is the NBA event where all the team makes trade deals for the players available. Any NBA players whose contract is about to end, can enter into free agency. The rest of the NBA teams would make a deal for those players and depending on the bids, the player changes his team. Here are the rest of the details about how free agency works and what are the timings.
When does Free Agency Start?
Free agency for 2019 will start from Sunday, June 30 at 6 pm in the evening. The trade deal will run for the whole week and on Saturday, July 6, the deals will be considered official. Before that, any deal made will just be a negotiation and won’t be considered valid before the afternoon of July 6.
Types of Free Agents
Player Option: In this case, the player has the option to decide whether he will play for the same team or enter into free agency as an unrestricted agent.
Team Option: As the name suggests, the team has the option whether it will allow a player into free agency or continue in their team.
Restricted free agent: In this option, a player can sign with any team, but his original team has an option to offer a matching deal and re-sign him.
Unrestricted free agent: As the name sounds, the player is free to sign with any of the team that makes an offer for him.
How does a team makes a Deal?
Any NBA team can make an offer depending on the money it has in its cap space. Every team is provided with equal money at the beginning which they can use to buy new or old players. Also, there are single contract or max contract of 4 to 5 years. Depending on all that, the value of cap space is estimated. No team can spend more than the allowed cap space limit.
Top Free Agents of 2019
Every year, there are new free agents in the field and their demand keeps changing as to how they perform. Last year, LeBron James was one of the top free agents who was bought by the LA Lakers from the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2019, players such as Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Walker, Kemba Walker, Klay Thompson, etc. are some of the top free agents.