We’re one day away from the start of the NBA’s 2026/27 regular season, making Monday the last day of the 2026 offseason. Today serves as the deadline for a number of contract- and roster-related decisions around the league. Here are the most important ones:
Rookie Scale Extensions
As we outlined on Sunday, a total of 23 players entered the offseason eligible for rookie scale extensions and five of those players – Victor Wembanyama, Amen Thompson, Keyonte George, Ausar Thompson, and Brandin Podziemski – have signed new deals, while two others (Cam Whitmore and Jordan Hawkins) were waived earlier in the offseason. Additionally, Cason Wallace reached an agreement with the Thunder on a rookie scale extension on Sunday.
That leaves the following 15 players eligible to sign rookie scale extensions on Monday:
The majority of these guys won’t sign new deals until the 2027 offseason, when they’re eligible for restricted free agency. But it would be a surprise if at least one or two more players from this list don’t finalize rookie scale extensions today, as it’s not uncommon for rookie scale extension candidates to sign last-minute deals. At this time last year, for instance, Christian Braun and Dyson Daniels still didn’t have agreements in place with their respective teams, but they both completed rookie scale extensions prior to the deadline.
Black, Coulibaly, Henderson, Jaquez, Lively, and Miller are among the notable names in this group, but finding a price point that works for them and their respective teams will be a challenge in some cases.
The deadline for rookie scale extensions is at 5:00 pm Central time.
Certain Veteran Contract Extensions
A veteran player who signed his current contract at least two years ago (or three years ago if it was a five-year deal) is eligible to sign an extension. That means many veterans around the NBA have the ability to sign contract extensions today, but that number will significantly drop as of tomorrow.
Once the regular season begins, only veterans in the final year of their contracts can sign extensions — a player who has multiple years remaining is no longer extension-eligible until the following offseason.
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Let’s use the Timberwolves as an example. LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert, and Donte DiVincenzo are all eligible for veteran extensions right now, but Ball, Edwards, and McDaniels still have multiple years left on their respective contracts. That means their extension eligibility windows will close after Monday and won’t reopen until next July, whereas a player like DiVincenzo, who is on an expiring contract, could sign an extension anytime between now and June 30, 2027.
An extension-eligible veteran who has a player option for 2027/28 – such as Gobert – could still sign a new deal later in the ’26/27 league year, but he’d have to eliminate that option to do so. Picking up the option would make him ineligible to complete an extension between Tuesday and the start of the ’27/28 league year, since it would turn his contract into a multiyear deal, not an expiring one.
This rule also applies to team options, which is why we saw Oso Ighodaro agree to an extension with the Suns on Sunday. As part of that agreement, Phoenix is exercising its 2027/28 team option on Ighodaro, which wouldn’t have been possible if the two sides wanted to negotiate a new deal during the regular season.
Here are the players who have a Monday deadline to sign a veteran extension if they want to lock in a new deal before next July, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks:
Although there are several big-name players in this group, including many whose teams will want to extend them, there’s no guarantee that any of them will actually sign a new contract today, since they’ll all have at least one more eligibility window down the road.
In some cases, it’s in a player’s best interest to wait until next offseason to negotiate a new deal. For example, Edwards can become eligible for a super-max extension starting at up to 35% of the cap instead of 30% if he makes an All-NBA team in 2026/27.
The deadline for veteran extensions for players on non-expiring contracts is at 10:59 pm CT tonight.
Regular Season Rosters
Most NBA teams finalized their roster cuts on Saturday for financial reasons, as we explained last week. However, today is the official deadline to reduce offseason rosters to the regular season limit of 15 players on standard contracts (plus three on two-way contracts).
While there will could very well be some additional roster shuffling today as teams tweak their back-end roster spots or fill two-way openings, just five of the league’s 30 clubs have to make at least one move. As we outlined on Saturday night, the Mavericks, Rockets, Lakers, and Bucks are still carrying 16 players on standard contracts, while the Grizzlies have 17 players on standard contracts.
Dallas, Los Angeles, and Milwaukee will have to trade or waive at least one player on a standard contract; Memphis will have to trade or waive at least two. The Rockets could technically comply with regular season roster rules by simply converting one of their remaining Exhibit 10 players to a two-way contract, though it’s not a lock that’s what they’ll do.
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Those roster moves to ensure teams are compliant with the regular season roster limits are due by 4:00 pm CT.
The final day of the offseason is also the last day for teams to convert Exhibit 10 contracts into two-way deals, and there are a few candidates around the league for that sort of move. Two are in Houston, where Rockets big man Oscar Tshiebwe and forward Julian Phillips are contenders to fill the team’s open two-way slot. It’s possible both players will be converted to two-way deals if Houston is willing to waive either Quadir Copeland or Sean Pedulla.
Suns big man Duop Reath is the only other player still on an Exhibit 10 deal. He’s expected to be converted to a two-way contract, which will require Phoenix to cut one of its current two-way players. CJ Huntley looks to me like the probable odd man out, but Pat Spencer and Koby Brea are in the mix there as well.
It’s also worth noting that a player on an Exhibit 10 contract who was cut on Saturday could be claimed off waivers and immediately converted to a two-way deal later today.
Finally, Monday is the last day for a free agent to be signed-and-traded during the 2026/27 league year. However, there have been no indications that any sign-and-trades are in the works.
