Silver: Free agent moratorium likely to remain


NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports
NBA commissioner Adam Silver. Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that the league won’t change the July free agent moratorium but that it likely will alter the format for playoff seeding.

Speaking at the NBA’s Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas, Silver said he is confident that next year’s playoffs will feature the top eight teams from each conference seeded strictly by their overall records.

Under the current format, the three division winners in each conference are each guaranteed one of the top four seeds.

“That recommendation was discussed at the board today, it wasn’t voted on yet because we wanted all the owners to have an opportunity to go back and discuss that recommendation with their general managers and their coaches and we will vote on it at the beginning of the season,” Silver said. “It is my expectation that the change will be adapted before the beginning of this coming season.”

The moratorium, during which players can’t sign with new teams until nine days after the start of the free agent period, came under criticism this month after center DeAndre Jordan backed out of an oral agreement with the Dallas Mavericks to re-sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Silver admitted the Jordan saga reflected badly on the NBA, but he added, “Nobody had a great idea, frankly, in terms of how to change it. I think there was some discussion about whether the moratorium potentially should be a bit shorter. But as I’ve said the other day, it’s an imperfect system, and we still think we’re striking the right balance between teams having the opportunity to talk to players when they become free agents and creating certainty at some point when contracts are entered into.”

Silver also addressed the recent rise of teams intentionally fouling poor free-throw shooters, the strategy known informally as “Hack-a-Shaq.” He said the league is unlikely to change rules to prevent the frequent fouls.

“We came out status quo,” Silver said. “We recognize we are an entertainment product and we’re competing for eyeballs, number one. It’s almost counterintuitive, but the ratings don’t show people are tuning it off.”

On other topics, Silver said the league might add a clock counting down the time until the end of each timeout and quarter break, and he said he remains hopeful the Bucks will get a new arena in Milwaukee.