The NBA’s July moratorium officially ended Monday morning, which means the biggest deals of the 2026 offseason can finally be processed and announced. The league moves fast now. Give it a day and you will forget half of these ever happened.
The moratorium ended at 11:01 am Central time, per Hoops Rumors. That opens the door for every team to officially finalize the free agency signings and trade agreements they had verbally locked down since the negotiating window opened.
The headliners on the trade side are the ones that have already been dominating the headlines for a week. The Giannis Antetokounmpo deal to Miami is now official, sending Giannis and Bobby Portis to the Heat in exchange for Tyler Herro, Kel’el Ware, Jaime Jaquez Jr., and Kasparas Jakucionis, per multiple reports. Milwaukee gets a young core to build around, and Miami gets a top three player in the league.
The Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia deal cleared the moratorium too. Boston shipped its franchise wing to a division rival, which is going to be a story all season long in the Eastern Conference. Getting Brown into a lineup with Joel Embiid is going to make the Sixers one of the more interesting teams to watch in October.
The Kawhi Leonard trade to the Toronto Raptors is also on the board. The Clippers moved on from their star forward instead of extending him, and Toronto is bringing Kawhi back to the franchise where he won a title in 2019. That is a full circle moment.
Ja Morant is officially a Portland Trail Blazer after the Grizzlies dealt him to Portland for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. The Blazers now have a starting backcourt of Damian Lillard and Morant, with Deni Avdija sliding in at small forward. That is going to be one of the fastest paced perimeter groups in the league.
Smaller deals also cleared. The Thunder finalized their trade of Aaron Wiggins to the Atlanta Hawks for two second round picks. That was a cap saving move for Oklahoma City, which had been staring at a $213 million luxury tax bill before this move dropped it to $152 million. Wiggins is a nice piece for Atlanta and a rotation upgrade at wing.
On the free agency front, the Rui Hachimura signing with the Clippers is official. So is DeMar DeRozan getting waived by the Sacramento Kings, opening him up as an unrestricted free agent looking for a new home.
Restricted free agent Quinten Post signed a three year, $30 million offer sheet with the Memphis Grizzlies. The Warriors have until 11:59 pm ET on Tuesday to match, and there is a solid chance they will let him walk given their cap situation.
All 30 teams are now in the business of officially adjusting rosters. Player introduction press conferences will follow this week. Physical exams get scheduled. Team apps update their rosters and start pushing merchandise for the new stars.
This is the busiest 48 hour window of the NBA calendar every year, and 2026 is no exception. The Eastern Conference power structure just shifted with Giannis in Miami, Brown in Philly, and LeBron James looming as a potential Cleveland target.
The Western Conference has its own storylines with Ja in Portland, Kawhi out of Los Angeles, and the Nuggets trying to figure out Peyton Watson. There is going to be plenty to argue about all summer.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
