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How the NBA restart rules work for substitute players now 🏀
How the NBA restart rules work for substitute players now
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What's next for NBA teams now that the transaction window has closed?
Multiple teams made roster moves over the past week, including those included and excluded from the season restart in Orlando, Florida. Players can still opt out of participating, and teams can continue to add players to their rosters, though the rules for those transactions are different moving forward.
Here are answers to the key questions about what's next, what happens if a player gets injured or tests positive for COVID-19, and when trades might be allowed
What's next on the NBA calendar?
Teams entered phase 3 of the restart on July 1, which is outlined in the health and safety protocols as the first time that individual workouts are mandatory. Teams are prohibited from engaging in any in-person group workouts, practices, conditioning sessions or other activities. There can be no more than eight players and no more than 10 coaches or player development personnel in a facility at one time.
Teams were required to submit their 37-person travel parties for Orlando to the league office on Wednesday. Players and staff in those traveling parties will continue coronavirus testing every other day through the day they travel to Orlando on July 7, 8 or 9. Upon arriving in Florida, everyone must quarantine in their room for approximately 36 to 48 hours.
Phase 4 begins after the quarantine is lifted, approximately from July 9 to 11, at which point regular coronavirus testing will begin again for players and staff. For the first time, teams and players may engage in group activities.
Phase 5 starts July 22, with each team expected to play three scrimmages before the start of the seeding games on July 30. The scrimmages can occur only among teams residing in the same hotel.
Can teams still add players to their rosters?
Teams with open roster spots were allowed to sign players until June 30. With that transaction window closed, teams have until Aug. 14 (the last day of seeding games) to sign replacement players for one of the following reasons: A rostered player elects not to travel with the team or fully opts out of participating in the restart, or a player has a confirmed positive case of COVID-19.
Davis Bertans, Wilson Chandler, Avery Bradley, Trevor Ariza, Thabo Sefolosha and Willie Cauley-Stein fit the first category of players who have opted out (all for their own valid reasons). Because theirs do not qualify as protected or excused absences, those players will lose more than $2 million in combined salary that will go back to their teams.
The Brooklyn Nets' DeAndre Jordan -- who said this week that he tested positive and will not participate -- falls into the second category. He will face a $1.2 million salary reduction if he is medically cleared and remains home.
There are only a few restrictions on the substitute player pool until Aug. 14: A player must not have been under contract with a team outside of the U.S. during the 2019-20 season, and he must not have been waived after March 1. That keeps players such as DeMarcus Cousins, Jamal Crawford, Gerald Green and Isaiah Thomas in play as substitute options.
Any player signed as a substitute will be paid a prorated minimum contract equal to 20 days of salary. For example, JR Smith will earn $289,803 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Once the play-in games and/or playoffs begin after Aug. 14, only players with zero to three years of service are eligible to be signed as replacement players. That pool of players includes Dragan Bender, Jemerrio Jones, Jonah Bolden, Tyrone Wallace, Henry Ellenson and Amile Jefferson. However, Isaiah Hartenstein and Allonzo Trier are not eligible because they were waived after March 1.
One more important note here: Teams are not allowed to sign temporary substitute players. Once a player on the roster has been replaced by a substitute -- no matter when that substitution occurs -- he is ineligible for the rest of the season.
How are things different with a player who has tested positive for the virus?
The Nets' Spencer Dinwiddie is a good example. He told The Athletic this week that he tested positive for the coronavirus and is uncertain about his availability for Orlando.
Even though travel parties were due July 1, Brooklyn will leave Dinwiddie on its eligible roster and hold off on a decision about signing a substitute. Replacing Dinwiddie now would make him ineligible for the seeding games and playoffs. (The Nets will also keep Jordan on the eligible roster while they assess substitute options).
Dinwiddie will continue to quarantine, and he will not be cleared until he is asymptomatic, with two consecutive negative coronavirus tests more than 24 hours apart. The final clearance will come from an NBA-designated physician.
If Dinwiddie is medically cleared and decides to participate after the Nets leave for Orlando, he will fly to Florida separately and quarantine for 36 to 48 hours upon arrival. Dinwiddie would lose up to $1.5 million if he is medically cleared but chooses not to participate. If the Nets choose to sign a substitute player for him or anyone else on the roster, that player will have to quarantine for at least seven days in Orlando if he did not travel with the team. The timeline here is important because Brooklyn's first game is on July 31.
The rules are essentially the same once phase 4 begins and teams start group activities. If a player contracts the virus once on the campus, he may qualify as excused and avoid any financial penalty.
Can a team replace a player who gets injured in Orlando?
No, the substitute player rules do not apply to injuries unrelated to the virus.
The Indiana Pacers are a good example here. All-Star guard Victor Oladipo is still determining whether to participate, citing that he might be more susceptible to long-term injury after returning from a ruptured quad in January.
If Oladipo elects to not participate in order to continue his rehab, the Pacers would be able to sign a substitute player. However, Indiana won't make such a signing until Oladipo decides to fully opt out because it would make him ineligible for the rest of the season. If he opts out, he'll face a financial penalty.
But if Oladipo participates and suffers an injury during a practice or game, Indiana would not be able to sign a replacement for him at any point.
Can a player leave Orlando once he arrives?
A player can elect to leave the campus at any time. However, a player who leaves campus and returns will be subject to a 10-day quarantine in his room and will have his annual salary reduced by 1/92.6 for every game missed.
If a player leaves campus after the playoffs start and does not return, his team will not be allowed to sign a substitute player. Substitutions for voluntary opt-outs can occur only before Aug. 14.
A player who leaves campus with an excused absence (such as the birth of a child, illness or the death of a family member) can avoid the financial penalty and will be subject to a four-day quarantine upon return.
When can teams make trades?
We are still in a holding pattern there. Under normal circumstances, the 14 lottery teams can make transactions once the playoffs begin in April (though April and May are usually pretty quiet). However, the transaction moratorium that began in mid-March is still in effect for now.
The likely resolution here is that the league and the union will agree to lift the transaction moratorium once the first round of the playoffs begins on Aug. 17. Teams eliminated from the playoffs will be allowed to make trades, sign eligible players to contract extensions and waive players with at least two years left on their contracts.,
Because future salary-cap and luxury tax numbers are still unknown, expect teams to hold off on making real moves, even if the moratorium is lifted.
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