Key dates in the Indiana Pacers 2022-23 offseason

The Indiana Pacers are officially in offseason mode. Their next steps are about modeling, evaluating, drafting, and tweaking the roster so that they can improve for next season and beyond. After a successful first full season of a new era, the Pacers now have to improve.

As the team looks to make its next steps, there are important dates to monitor throughout the offseason for the franchise. These dates represent key markers for events or actions for Indiana.

April 17: NBA Draft standings tiebreakers

This date has already passed, but it was not at a set date when the offseason started.

On Monday, the NBA performed multiple random drawings to break standings ties for draft positioning. If two teams had the same record, the drawing determined which team would have a better draft pick.

The Pacers won the only drawing directly involving their own spot in the standings, but they were impacted by four different results in total. Three of their five draft picks in June's NBA Draft are now known in position.

May 15-21: NBA Draft combine

The NBA Draft combine will take place over roughly a week in the middle of May. It will be in Chicago at Wintrust Arena. Many, but not all, draft prospects will be measured and physically tested on these dates. Some will scrimmage against each other, too. For teams like the Pacers with several selections, it's an important time to gather intel, interview players, and get the draft process really moving.

May 16: NBA Draft Lottery

The NBA grabs four ping pong ball combinations in the Draft Lottery on May 16. Whichever four teams are represented by the corresponding combinations will move into the top-four picks of the 2023 NBA Draft. The Pacers have the seventh-best odds of jumping up into the top-four.

June 22: NBA Draft

On June 22, all 30 teams will make picks and maneuvers to add to their roster. Indiana has five draft picks, but they don't anticipate using all of them.

June 29: Last day for qualifying offers and contract options

June 29 is the final day that players and teams are allowed to make decisions on team or player options in contracts. Some deals have negotiated dates prior to the 29th, but that is the final day it is permissible.

The Pacers aren't impacted by this as they have no players with a team or player option. But the 29th is also the final day for teams to extend qualifying offers to players they would like to make a restricted free agent, and Indiana has that option with two-way contract forward Kendall Brown. If they would like to keep the youngster next season, they would submit a qualifying offer to Brown.

June 30: Teams can officially negotiate with free agents

At 6 pm Eastern Time on June 30, teams and players can officially negotiate contracts and agree to deals, though nothing can be signed until a later date. Some deals can be discussed sooner. Many reported agreements will come to light on this date.

July 1: Certain contracts can be signed

Minimum salary deals, two-way contracts, rookie scale contracts, and qualifying offers can be signed starting on July 1. The NBA enters a moratorium on this day, preventing some other deals from being inked. But these contract types can almost always be agreed to even without knowing the league's official finances, so they can be signed during the moratorium.

Last year, for example, Bennedict Mathurin signed his rookie scale contract on July 3. It could have theoretically happened as early as July 1.

July 6: Teams can sign free agents

Starting on July 6, all free agents can officially be signed by any team to any type of legal contract. The Pacers will have a ton of cap space to potentially use in the free agent market.

July 7-17: Las Vegas Summer League

For 11 days in Las Vegas in the middle of July, NBA teams will send a Summer League squad to compete with other teams. League executives and coaches will be in attendance, and young players as well as new draftees will get a chance to shine in front of important NBA figures.

October 24: season starts

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the 2023-24 NBA season will start on October 24.

NBA informed teams today that the 2023-24 season will start on Oct. 24, 2023, and conclude April 14, 2024.

Noteworthy: If/when In-Season Tournament is approved, initial schedule will have 80 games per team; remaining games scheduled after eight teams advance to knockout rounds.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 30, 2022

This is when the Pacers will begin their quest to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20. They have the foundation to do it, but what they do between now and October will determine if they have a shot at the postseason.

There are other dates that may be important for the blue and gold this offseason, but with a new collective bargaining agreement in place that has not yet been released to the public, it is not known if old dates will still apply. This post will be updated if any other key event dates for the Pacers are made public.

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