Deadlines and Commitments - No. 89

Call this the Donatas Motiejunas special edition of Deadlines and Commitments. We include details of what we know of the Nets offer sheet to the Houston big. Of course, these dates are perishable if the Rockets match.

Also, player movement starts to move into high gear in 10 days. Get ready!

December 5 - Rockets must inform NBA and Nets whether they will match the Nets four-year, $37 million offer sheet to Donatas Motiejunas. Deadline is 11:59 p.m. ET. Media thinking in Houston is that decision will be made and likely announced before the Rockets-Celtics game which begins at 8:00 p.m. ET. If Rockets decline to match, Nets must pay him $5 million upfront.

December 15 — Players signed during off-season can now, for the first time, be traded. That would include Jeremy Lin, Trevor Booker, Justin Hamilton, Luis Scola, Randy Foye, Joe Harris and Anthony Bennett. None of those players can be traded before then.

December 15 -- NBA and players union have until today to decide whether to opt out of the Collective Bargaining Agreement one year early. With Woj reporting the two sides are finalizing a deal, this may be a meaningless deadline.

January 5 -- 10-day contracts may now be signed. Agents for D-League players intensify lobbying for their clients to get called up. (If a Long Island Net gets called up and then returned to D-League, he would return to Long Island).

January 10 — All contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season. If Motiejunas is a Net, his deal would be fully guaranteed as of this date and he would recieve another $3.5 million. Yogi Ferrell's partially guaranteed contract would become fully guaranteed as well for this season. He has a $100,000 guarantee on a $495,518 contract.

January 18-22 -2017 NBA D-League Showcase (Mississsauga, Ontario) D-League teams gather in the Raptors 905 home city. GMs and scouts from around the NBA do a one-stop shopping tour. Call-ups usually intensify.

February 5 - Chinese Basketball Association regular season ends. The Long Island Nets hold rights to a few CBA players. As regular season ends and playoff rounds drop off, returning U.S. players will get offers from both NBA and D-League clubs.

February 9 - Ferrell can now be traded.

February 17-19 - All-Star Break in New Orleans. GMs begin or accelerate trade talks.

February 23 - Trade Deadline, 3 p.m. ET. Expect the Nets to be active.

March 1 - If Motiejunas is a Net, team must decide whether to fully guarantee his second year at $9 million. (Same holds true for Rockets if they match).

March 1 - Deadline for players wanting to be waived so they can join a playoff-bound team.

March 4 - D-League trade deadline, 3 p.m. ET. Lots of D-League draft picks get dealt as contenders prepare for playoffs.

April 1 - D-League regular season ends. (Earliest date)

April 15 - D-League playoffs begin.

April 12 - End of regular season. Bonuses and incentives are calculated for those players who have them in their contracts. That would include Scola, who has $500,000 in possible bonuses as well as Motiejunas, who has up to $1 million in possible bonuses. Also, teams under the CBA salary floor must distribute difference between their payroll and floor to roster players on roster as of this date. Salary floor is $84.6 million.

April 15 - NBA playoffs begin.

May 16 - NBA Draft Lottery, New York. Steel yourself. The Nets and Celtics must swap picks this year, but swap is determined based on lottery results. So if Nets finish with 5th worst record but win the lottery, the top pick goes to Boston.

June 22 - NBA Draft, likely to held again at Barclays Center. Perhaps a concessionaire could market Billy King face masks?

June 30 - Joe Harris and Sean Kilpatrick’s $1,051,245 guarantees for 2017-18 kick in. Team option on both.

July 1 - Free agency begins. Teams can contact free agents, restricted and unrestricted alike, with offers starting at 12 midnight. Agreements are often reported the first two or three days of free agency.

July 7 - Free agents can officially be signed. Press conferences are held.

August 1 - Ferrell, if still with the team, has guarantee at $226,312 kick in for 2017-18. Team option.

October 31 -Bennett’s salary guarantees at $250,000 kick in for 2017-18. Team Option.