Important Dates in the Toronto Raptors Offseason Calendar — Draft, Free Agency and More

It’s been a little bit since we’ve heard Toronto Raptors news, but that’s all about to change.

As we head into the month of June, the NBA offseason calendar is about to pick up. The Conference Finals are nearly wrapped up now, and soon we will crown a new NBA champion. After that is over, we will quickly head into a packed offseason schedule of events before heading back to training camp.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves — there is still a lot for the Raptors to do before we are talking about training camp! There’s the draft, free agency, summer league, and more. So put these dates in your calendar to make sure you know when things are happening.

The NBA Draft: June 26-27

The NBA Draft is going to be completely different this year! The league has decided to change the draft to a two night format. This will allow front offices to have more time between rounds to make decisions, but also allow the audience to see more of the later picks too!

Night one is on Wednesday June 26th, at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn, NY. Night one will feature the first round of the draft, where teams will make the 1st-30th picks. The Raptors currently have the 19th pick in the first round, their highest after losing their lottery pick to the San Antonio Spurs.

The Raptors will also open night two of the draft on Thursday June 27th, when the 31st-58th picks in the draft are made. This event will be held at ESPN’s Studios. While there are usually 60 picks total in the NBA draft, this year there are two less, after Philadelphia and Phoenix both lost picks for violating league rules.

Raptors HQ’s JD Quirante has been going over potential prospects for the Raptors’ picks in the draft.

The first pick in this year’s draft is going to the Atlanta Hawks. While the Raptors currently sit at 19th and 31st, there is potential they trade up. Though Masai Ujiri tends to like to wait until free agency to make his bigger roster decisions, so maybe don’t expect them to try and trade up in the draft.

Free Agency: June 30th-July 6th and beyond

After the draft, we head right into free agency. The Raptors have a lot of decisions to make, with several players on expiring contracts and the future of the roster still slightly up in the air.

Negotiations open on June 30th at 6pm Eastern time. This means that front offices can officially reach out to and hold negotiations with players. Likely a lot of news will come out around this time and into July 1st.

Teams will travel to meet with potential prospects, see what the landscape is like, and adjust their targets based on verbal commitments players and agents make during this week.

Actual pen cannot be put onto paper until July 6th, though. That day is when the official contracts can start being signed. After that, teams and players can still negotiate through the summer, but it gets less frequent as time passes. The biggest names go first and make their decisions, then the second tier of players make decisions based on what teams are able to offer at that point, and then the stragglers are left throughout the summer.

Maybe the biggest name on Toronto fans’ minds is Immanuel Quickley, who is a restricted free agent going into the summer. This means the Raptors hold his negotiating rights, and can match any offer Quickley gets from another team. Quickley himself has expressed the desire to want to come back to Toronto, so if this deal doesn’t go through... well let’s just say there is no reason for IQ to NOT return to the Raptors. They need him, he wants to be here, it’s a win for everyone.

Summer League: July 12th-22nd

Once the draft picks are made and the free agents are signed, the NBA heads to sunny Las Vegas for Summer League. This is a week(ish) long tournament where the NBA’s newest players have a chance to get their feet wet before heading into training camp.

Rosters are comprised of rookies, some second or maybe even third year players, and anyone trying to get on the Raptors’ (or any team’s) radar ahead of training camp. Some players who perform well at Summer League get invited to join teams at camp, or end up on their G-League affiliate teams.

Summer League results have no impact on the season or anything else related to the NBA calendar, but it’s a good way to identify new talent, see where your rookies are at, and give your younger players some run in the summer. It’s a way to build team chemistry, give younger coaches some time to lead the bench, and start the process of teaching newer players the system.

Plus, everyone meets in Vegas for a good time.

The Olympics: July 27th-August 11th

It’s also an Olympic Summer, which is exciting for NBA fans. The Olympic Games are being held in Paris this summer from July 27th until August 11th, and lots of NBA talent will be showcased.

For the Raptors, the biggest names heading to Paris are RJ Barrett and Kelly Olynyk. These two helped lead Canada to a bronze medal at last year’s FIBA World Cup, and will return for Canada as they attempt to get onto the podium in Paris.

Joining them will hopefully be Jamal Murry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and more Canadian talent from around the NBA. It’s probably the best chance the Canadian Men’s program has had to make the podium, and it will exciting to see how the player’s skills translate.

It’s going to be a busy summer for the Raptors!