NBA Commissioner Adam Silver acknowledged that the league current moratorium period between the start of free agency and when players can officially sign with teams is an "imperfect system,” but he wonders if there is a "better system.” Appearing on NBA TV on Sunday during the Las Vegas Summer League, Silver said the league office is "always looking to do things better,” but noted the current system is collectively bargained. Silver: "We can’t unilaterally change it.” He added, "People have to remember one of the reasons for the moratorium was it used to be a guy could go from being a player under contract to all of a sudden at 12:01 signing with a new team and people would say, ‘How in the world did that happen if he had been under contract and wasn’t supposed to be talking to other teams?’ So everyone agreed we needed a period of time” (“76ers-Celtics,” NBA TV, 7/13). ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz cited several NBA execs as saying that they would “like for the league to discuss the possibility of shortening the moratorium window in order to avoid future episodes like Jordan's” (ESPN.com, 7/13). But in S.F., Bruce Jenkins writes, "Don’t expect any changes on the free-agent landscape.” The NBA “likes the idea of a seven-day period in which players can meet with several teams, and it loves a little intrigue.” Without the moratorium, players “could sign deals within five minutes of the open window; where’s the fun in that?” Incidents like Jordan's and “spirited bidding keep the league in the news, and players will try to arrange deals in secret, no matter what the rules” (S.F. CHRONICLE, 7/14).
