The NBA offseason will pick up speed considerably in less than two weeks, when the 2019 NBA Draft arrives on June 20; and when it does, the changing league landscape will provide its annual dose of chaos.
The tectonic plates will begin to move, and aftershocks will be felt across both conferences. Afterward, things will calm down and carry the league into its only real downtime of the year.
With free agency and other deadlines, there is roughly a three-week stretch that determines as much about the NBA's future as any other period on the calendar. And this summer, that tradition could go to the extreme with Anthony Davis' trade saga, a long list of marquee free agents and a collection of teams with loads of cap room.
With all of this on the horizon, the Wizards remain in search of a new team president, one to fill the post left behind with the firing of Ernie Grunfeld, who was dismissed on April 2. Washington has remained patient through the process and many have focused on the draft as a major milemarker for the offseason.
But there are other important dates to keep in mind as they pertain to new front office leadership — ones they will need to be prepared for. There is June 29, when team options have to be decided. The Wizards have a big one with Jabari Parker's $20 million contract for next year, though it is highly unlikely it will be exercised, no matter who is in charge.
The most important date is June 30 and one could argue it is just as pivotal as the draft. June 30 is when the Wizards will have to extend qualifying offers to their restricted free agents. That means decisions on Tomas Satoransky, Bobby Portis, Thomas Bryant, Sam Dekker and Chasson Randle.
Satoransky, Portis and Bryant are the big names there and all three are in line for multi-year contracts. If the Wizards give them qualifying offers, they will have the option to match whatever they can get from other teams on the open market.
The problem is that there will be cap holds while they wait for that process to play out. It could lock up whatever money they would otherwise have to spend in free agency for days, if not weeks. The deadline to revoke qualifying offers is July 13.
Whoever takes over as team architect of the Wizards will have to determine whether they want guys like Satoransky, Portis and Bryant as part of their future and what is a fair price to keep them. If they make them RFAs and they receive offers from other teams, the Wizards will have 48 hours to match or let them walk.
June 30 is also when free agency begins. The league moved it's annual negotiating window up from July 1 at midnight to 6 p.m. on June 30. The Wizards could have some money to spend this summer, but it all depends on what they decide with their RFAs.
Either way, the Wizards will need to get creative with their approach to free agency. They have a roster to fill out and only five players under contract for next season, not including Parker due to his option. John Wall's injury will keep him out for at least most of next season, so they only have four players penciled in for opening night. One of them is Ian Mahinmi, whose rotation spot is all but guaranteed.
Another is Dwight Howard, who picked up his $5.6 million player option for next season. But a new GM could choose to part ways after taking the job, and soon, if history is any precedent.
It happened last offseason when Mitch Kupchak took over in Charlotte, and it also happened the year before when Travis Schlenk got the job in Atlanta. Both decided to trade Howard immediately.
It may have nothing to do with Howard's health, though reports happen to be good in that regard. Howard missed the final five months of the season after having back surgery and has been continuing his rehab in Atlanta.
The Wizards recently sent a representative down to see Howard, NBC Sports Washington was told, and they were surprised at how much his mobility has improved from the end of the season. There is more optimism now than there was just a few weeks ago that Howard will return to form.
A lot is going to happen in the next few weeks and getting it all right will require time and some serious thought. They will need to be prepared for free agency and how the major moves could affect them. The current staff under interim president Tommy Sheppard has also been preparing for free agency, just like the draft, not knowing whether they will be making the decisions or not.
The Wizards may still be able to get someone in place as team president by draft night, on June 20. But keep in mind the decision of who will lead the front office is not the only one to make. That person will have to fill out their staff and that can take weeks and sometimes months.
David Griffin was hired to run the Pelicans on April. 12. He just hired his vice president of basketball operations, Swin Cash, on June 10, after nearly two months. Griffin took over a month to get his general manager, Trajan Langdon.
That type of timeline for the Wizards would be problematic. Thirty days from now, the draft will be weeks behind them, RFA decisions will have been made and most of the free agent action will be over with. The NBA will be midway through its summer league and many will have upcoming vacations on their mind.
The Wizards are playing the long game, knowing they are setting the course of the franchise for many years to come. But the offseason will pick up quickly very soon, whether they are ready or not.
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