RFA BIDS ARE DUE Friday, 1/16 at 4pm CST
Bids should be submitted to The Negotiator via Private Message. Max of 5 bids. This Private message should have the subject "TEAM NAME- RFA Bids" (substitute your team's name for the words "TEAM NAME" in quotes). Place all of your RFA bids in a single message, with one entry per line, formatted as follows:
Player Name; Initial Year's Salary; Yearly Raise Percentage; Total Number of Years; (if desired: Team Option/Player Option)
(You may substitute "max" and "min" shorthand for maximum/minimum bids so you don't have to type out the exact numbers - this is encouraged).
For example, the Hawks' RFA Private Message should have the subject (note values below are not indicative of the current cap and are for illustrative purposes only):
"Hawks - RFA Bids"
and might have the following as the body:
Eric Montross; $10,069,134; 12.5%; 5
Khalid Reeves; $7,632,314; 10.0%; 4
Brooks Thompson; $3,000,000; 3.5%; 3; Team Option
The following players may be bid on during Restricted Free Agency ("incumbent" team follows player name, players are listed in order in which they were drafted):
RFA List:
Name / Incumbent Team/Desired Contract
Clyde Drexler/Nuggets/4yr-$2,074,343
Dale Ellus/Nets/4yr-$2,074,343
Derek Harper/Hawks/4yr-$1,549,949
Ralph Sampson/Jazz/4yr-$1,722,534
Byron Scott/Spurs/4yr-$1,715,896
Doc Rivers/Bucks/4yr-$2,074,343
Craig Ehlo/Jazz/4yr-$1,520,078
Jeff Malone/Pacers/3yr-$985,728
Sedale Threatt/Trailblazers/2yr-$249,917
Randy Breuer/Trailblazers/2yr-$251,908
Thurl Bailey/Trailblazers/4yr-$1,005,642
Steve Stipanovich/Trailblazers/3yr-$440,591
Darrell Walker/Pacers/1yr-$92,101
Mark West/Spurs/3yr-$722,867
Sidney Green/Supersonics/2yr-$382,509
John Paxson/Cavaliers/1yr-$92,101
Mitchell Wiggins/ Pistons/1yr-$92,101
Ennis Whatley/Bullets/2yr-$249,419
Will update at 8pm CST once the deadline has passed
Remember that Restricted Free Agents may not be traded for a full season (i.e., until after next season's RFA) except for within the limits of a "Sign and Trade" between the "winning" and "incumbent" team (see the RFA Rules explanation).
RULES ON LEGAL BIDS:
TEAMS WITH RESTRICTIONS ON WHAT THEY CAN BID ON EXTERNAL (Non-Incumbent) PLAYERS ARE BELOW (includes second rounder salary, so do the math if you are cutting that player). Also, if you’re having trouble determining which of these camps you fall into, give me a shout!
May Only bid the MLE:
Clippers
Lakers
Nets
Pistons
Hawks
May not bid on external RFAs due to RFA cap holds:
Jazz
Spurs
Trailblazers
May not bid on any RFAs due to unpaid tax:
Nets
May bid up to the following (Available cap minus RFA cap holds):
Nuggets $2,445,518
76ers $2,351,553
Warriors $2,208,702
Cavaliers $2,088,818
Bucks $1,563,412
The amounts listed above do not reflect any 2nd round cuts made after this edited thread (1/15/2026 at 5:30pm CST).
All other teams may bid the maximum
Please see the cap checker at tools.php to calculate maximum salary amounts.
Each team may submit up to FIVE (5) RFA bids. Bids in excess of five will be ignored. If not rectified, 5 bids will be chosen at random
TEAMS WITH AN OUTSTANDING LUXURY TAX BILL MAY NOT MAKE OFFERS TO RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS (Luxury Tax nonpayment restricts offers to vet minimums, vet minimums are restricted to 1 year, and RFA offers are restricted to 2+ years only)
Teams bidding on players that ended last season on their roster (i.e., "incumbent" teams) may offer:
-A starting salary of up to the current maximum for a player with 4 years of service regardless of cap situation.
-Yearly raises of 0% to 7.5%, in increments of 0.5% (i.e., 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% etc.)
-Contract lengths of anywhere from 2 to 5 years. ONE YEAR OFFERS ARE NOT PERMITTED DURING RFA. SINCE VETERAN MINIMUM OFFERS MUST BE FOR ONE YEAR, THIS MEANS VETERAN MINIMUM OFFERS ARE ALSO NOT PERMITTED DURING RFA (INCLUDES OFFERS THAT START SO LOW THAT RAISES FOR SUBSEQUENT YEARS RUN UNDER THE VETERAN MINIMUM FOR THE LATER YEAR).
-5 year contracts may only be a "supermax" (maximum first-year salary with 7.5% raises). Contracts of 2 to 4 years may be for any starting amount and any raise amount (e.g., 4 years starting at $8 million with 6.5% raises)
-If desired, may designate the final year of a deal of 3 or more seasons as "team option" or "player option" (if neither is selected, the default is "guaranteed")
Teams bidding on players that did NOT end last season on their roster may offer:
-A starting salary up to the current maximum for a player with 4 years of service OR the amount of salary cap space they have available, whichever is LESS -or- the MLE (teams that must offer less may be found at the end of this post as well as teams that may offer MLEs)
-Yearly raises of 0% to 5% in increments of 0.5% (i.e., 0%, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% etc.)
-Contract lengths of anywhere from 2 to 4 years. ONE YEAR OFFERS ARE NOT PERMITTED DURING RFA. SINCE VETERAN MINIMUM OFFERS MUST BE FOR ONE YEAR, THIS MEANS VETERAN MINIMUM OFFERS ARE ALSO NOT PERMITTED DURING RFA (INCLUDES OFFERS THAT START SO LOW THAT RAISES FOR SUBSEQUENT YEARS RUN UNDER THE VETERAN MINIMUM FOR THE LATER YEAR).
-If desired, may designate the final year of the deal of 3 or more seasons as "team option" or "player option" (if neither is selected, the default is "guaranteed")
Use the "Contract Helper" portion of the PBSL Trade Checker tool - tools.php - to figure out what those raises make the contract look like in dollar amounts and what this will do to your cap in the future if you need to.
Some Notes on MLEs for RFA
-If your team is currently over the cap, you can only use the MLE to bid on External RFAs
-If your team is under the cap, but within the MLE amount, you can only use the MLE to bid on External RFAs - YOU WILL NOT HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR OWN CAP SPACE - this is why there is an MLE cap hold to prevent double dipping
-Should you use the MLE and the RFA is matched by the original team, you can use the MLE in UFA. If he's not, his salary counts toward your MLE use.