One day remains until the start of the 2026/27 NBA regular season, making Monday the final day of the 2026 offseason. Today marks the end of the day for a number of decisions related to contracts and rosters in the league. Here are the most important ones:
Rookie Scale Extensions
Like us scheduled for Sundaytotal of 23 players entered the offseason are eligible for rookie expansion and five of those players – Victor Wembanyama, Amin Thompson, Keyonte George, Ausar Thompsonand Brandin underground – signed new deals, while the other two (Cam Whitmore and Jordan Hawkins) were canceled earlier in the offseason. In addition, Cason Wallace reached an agreement with the Thunder to expand the scope of the rookies on Sunday.
So, on Monday, the following 15 players are eligible to sign the rookie-level expansion:
Most of these guys won’t sign new deals until the 2027 offseason, when they become eligible for restricted free agency. But it would be surprising if at least one or two more players on this roster didn’t complete rookie-level extensions today, as it’s not uncommon for rookie-level expansion candidates to sign deals at the last minute. At this time last year, for example, Christian Brown and Dyson Daniels have yet to sign deals with their respective teams, but they both completed rookie expansions before the deadline.
Black, Koulibaly, Henderson, Jaques, Lively and Miller are among the big names in this group, but in some cases finding a price that works for them and their teams will be difficult.
Newbie scale extension deadline is 5:00 PM Central Time.
Some veteran contract extensions
A veteran player who signed his current contract at least two years ago (or three years ago if the contract was for five years) is eligible to sign an extension. That means many NBA veterans have the opportunity to sign contract extensions today, but that number will drop significantly starting tomorrow.
Once the regular season begins, only veterans in the final year of their contracts can sign extensions — a player with multiple years left is no longer eligible for an extension until the following offseason.
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Let’s use it Timberwolves as an example. Lamela’s ball, Anthony Edwards, Jayden McDaniels, Rudy Goberand Donte Di Vincenzo all are now eligible for veteran contract extensions, but Ball, Edwards and McDaniels have several years left on their contracts. That means their extension rights will close after Monday and won’t open until next July, while a player like Di Vincenzo, who is out of contract, can sign an extension anytime until June 30, 2027.
An extension-eligible veteran with a player option for 2027/28, such as Gobert, could still sign a new deal later in the 26/27 league year, but he would have to eliminate that option in order to do so. Taking up that option would make him ineligible to complete an extension between Tuesday and the start of the ’27/28 Championship, as it would turn his contract into a multi-year deal rather than an expiring deal.
This rule also applies to team options, so we have seen Very Igadara agree to an extension with the Suns on Sunday. As part of the deal, Phoenix will exercise the 2027/28 team option on Igadaro, which would not be possible if the two sides wanted to negotiate a new deal during the regular season.
Here are the players with Monday’s deadline to sign veteran extensions if they want a new deal before next July, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks:
While there are several high-profile players in this group, including many whose teams will be looking to extend their contracts, there is no guarantee that any of them will actually sign a new contract today, as they will all have at least one more window of eligibility down the road.
In some cases, it is in a player’s best interest to wait until the next offseason to negotiate a new deal. For example, Edwards could become eligible for a super-max extension starting at 35% of the cap instead of 30% if he makes the All-NBA team in 2026-27.
The deadline for expiring veteran contracts to be extended is today at 10:59 p.m. China time.
Regular season rosters
Most NBA teams completed roster cuts on Saturday for financial reasons we explained last week. However, today is the official deadline to trim offseason rosters to the regular season limit of 15 players on standard contracts (plus three on two-way contracts).
frontside, there could be some additional roster shuffling today as teams adjust their back-end roster spots or fill two-sided openingsonly five of the league’s 30 clubs to have make at least one move. Like us scheduled for Saturday evening, Mavericks, Rockets, Lakersand Bucks still have 16 players on standard contracts, while Grizzlies have 17 players on standard contracts.
Dallas, Los Angeles and Milwaukee will have to trade or waive at least one player on standard contracts; Memphis will have to trade or give up at least two. Technically, the Rockets could comply with the regular season rules by simply moving one of the remaining Exhibit 10 players to a two-way contract, though they won’t be doing a lockout.
(RELATED: 2026/27 NBA roster)
These roster changes to ensure teams meet regular season roster restrictions must be made by 4:00 PM China time.
The last day of the offseason is also the last day to convert teams Exhibition 10 contracts Art bilateral trades, and there are several candidates around the league for such a move. Two are in Houston, where Rockets a great man Oscar Tibwe and forward Julian Phillips are contenders to fill the team’s open two-way slot. Both players are likely to be moved to two-way deals if Houston chooses to waive either Quadir Copeland or Sean Pedula.
The sun a great man Duop Rit is the only other player still on an Exhibit 10 deal.He is expected to be moved to a two-way contract, which would require Phoenix to waive one of its current two-way players. CJ Huntley looks like a likely odd man out but Pat Spencer and Kobe Brea is also in the mix.
It’s also worth noting that the Annex 10 player whose contract was terminated on Saturday could be cleared of waivers and immediately converted to a two-way deal later today.
Finally, Monday is the last day to sign and trade a free agent for the 2026/27 league season. However, there was no indication that the label and trade were being developed.
