The Houston Rockets made a suggestion in the past that the NBA move the free agency ahead of the draft on its calendar. At the time, the idea received little support but there appears to be a growing sentiment for the concept.
"One other factor that I think has gained more intrigue among teams (and) executives, and the Rockets brought this into a meeting is flipping the draft and free agency that would allow these conversations that at this point are not legal to basically take the framework of what free agency works in practice, which is teams are able to talk over a longer period of time with free agents. There was talk about why don't we just allow in the model now where a season is over, let agents legally talk about players who are done versus, if a guy in the playoffs, you have to wait until his team's eliminated. That's not happening.
"But if they just flip the draft and free agency, which there is more support for than maybe even a year or two ago, the problem is it has to be collectively bargained with the players' association."
"While it wasn't even seriously voted on when it was first brought up, more and more people are bringing it up to me," said Brian Windhorst. "I do think it's an idea that is gaining steam. I just think in general, the draft to a certain extent gets short shrift because The Finals come right up on it."
