Players not on a team are official at 9. Players on teams can have their bid protected by that team until 9:30 and the player with a contract can be bid on if their contract is expiring
Then players who aren't on teams bids become official but players who are on teams who have been bid on don't until 9:30 when that team decides on whether the team wants to keep them or not. Am I correct?
You can put a bid on anyone who doesn't have a contract all season long but final bidding does not end until a certain day in the offseason at 9 0'clock.