Chicago Bulls: Free agency could begin as soon as Nov. 20

There might be less than one month until the next cycle of free agency begins for the Chicago Bulls, with a possible start date of Nov. 20 or 21.

Getting through the 2020 NBA offseason is not going to be an easy process for the league’s management, namely commissioner Adam Silver. The league office has to deal with finding the safest and best way to proceed in a timely fashion for the looming 2020-21 regular season, along with getting the dramatically altered offseason schedule set in a matter of a couple of weeks. They did all of this while juggling what to do with the “Delete Eight” teams like the Chicago Bulls, that haven’t seen any meaningful game action since mid-March.

There does look to be a few solutions in the works, though, to figure out the best way to proceed both for the offseason plan and the delayed start of the 2020-21 regular season. It sounds like the 2020-21 NBA season could begin as soon as pre-Christmas 2020. And the 2020 NBA Draft is still set to take place on Nov. 18.

But when will the NBA open up the trade market and begin the next cycle of free agency?

According to a report from Marc Stein of the New York Times on Twitter on the afternoon of Oct. 27, some teams “are preparing for NBA free agency to begin as early as Nov. 20 or Nov. 21”. That would essentially have free agency beginning “48 to 72 hours after the Nov. 18 NBA Draft”.

And this all hinges on “the plan to start the 2020-21 season Dec. 22”. Stein wrapped up this report on his Twitter timeline on Tuesday afternoon with the statement that “further clarity is expected by week’s end”.

The NBA is really having to rush through all of this planning in a really shortened timeline for this offseason. They have to manage to fit in some type of mini/training camp process, along with the NBA Draft, draft scouting combine, free agency, and opening up the trade market, in a span of now less than two months if they want to begin next season on Dec. 22.

The Bulls finished up their 2019-20 shortened regular season in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic back in mid-March with a record of 22-43, good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. They head into the fourth year of the rebuild with a new look front office, coaching staff, and scouting department. The roster could soon be changed in a big way too.