The NBA and player’s association coming to an agreement to start the season on Dec. 22 not only guarantees the start of the 2020-21 campaign but also paints a clearer preliminary picture for other dates important in the off-season. With the 2020 NBA Draft slated for Nov. 18, there will be little more than a month between an event that typically is the unofficial start of the off-season and the start of the regular season.
While the main focus for most has been when free agency would start, another undercovered aspect is when players will become rookie extension eligible. Specifically to the Pelicans, this applies to both Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart.
Typically, extension talks can begin at the start of the moratorium, usually on or around July 1. Those talks would typically continue until the night before the season started. This season, those dates could be more fluid with some discussions of free agency starting immediately after the NBA Draft and extension talks potentially lasting past opening night of the season.
Ball and the Pelicans’ extension talks will certainly be interesting. During the season, Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin noted that Ball wanted to remain with the franchise. Aside from that, though, there have been no other reports regarding extension talks between Ball and New Orleans.
Nailing down the number for Ball’s extension is a difficult task given how much he struggled in his first two seasons prior to his big breakout season in New Orleans. Ultimately, the Pelicans don’t have to agree to a deal with Ball this off-season. The franchise opted not to do so with Brandon Ingram last summer and still look primed to agree to a big deal with him this off-season.
Ball signing with Klutch Sports signaled that he is ready for a big payday. Whether the Pelicans and him can agree to it this off-season will be an interesting matter to monitor.
