NBA

NBA Daily: Let The NBA Trade Chatter Begin

Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Updated30 Oct 2023

Let The Trade Chatter Begin

While NBA teams are always talking, whether aggressively or casually, the date most teams circle on the calendar to start really exploring trade options is December 15.

That’s mainly because that’s when the bulk of trade restrictions on players signed during the offseason to free agent deals lifts, but also because most teams have played 25 or more games.

While it’s easy to talk about trades, especially for teams that get off to a slow start, it’s also important to realize teams put in mountains of works assembling their rosters. That includes weeks and weeks of development and planning work, so rushing to tear it all up after a slow start isn’t always smart. Take the Cavaliers as a perfect example. The Cavs were 3-4 entering November looking dreadful, since then, the Cavs have gone 17-4.

Most teams want to give the roster they built a chance because change does not always equal improvement. However, as teams get to the 30-game mark, there is enough of a sample size to know where you stand, which is why trade talk tends to be lower until mid-December.

With more than 95 players becoming trade eligible tomorrow, trade talks are going to start to heat up.

NBA teams are prohibited from trading players signed during the offseason for 90 days or December 15th, whichever is greater.

Players who re-signed with the same team and received more than a 20 percent increase in salary from last season, are further restricted until January 15th.

Players that signed one-year deals with the same team, also gain the ability to veto trades, as do rookie scale players that signed a Qualifying Offer.

Equally, players who had free agent offer sheets matched, like Washington’s Otto Porter Jr., also gain veto rights for the first calendar year of their deal.

With all of that said, here is how the 2017 free agent trade eligibility breaks down:

Atlanta Hawks Luke Babbitt Dewayne Dedmon Ersan Ilyasova (Veto Rights) Mike Muscala (Veto Rights)	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Boston Celtics Aron Baynes Gordon Hayward Shane Larkin Daniel Theis	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Brooklyn Nets Tyler Zeller	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Charlotte Hornets Michael Carter-Williams Julyan Stone	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Chicago Bulls Justin Holiday	Trade Eligible January 15th Cristiano Felicio Nikola Mirotic
Cleveland Cavaliers Jose Calderon Jeff Green Derrick Rose	Trade Eligible January 15th Kyle Korver
Dallas Mavericks Maxi Kleber Jeff Withey Nerlens Noel (Veto Rights) Dirk Nowitzki (Veto Rights)	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Denver Nuggets Paul Millsap	Trade Eligible January 15th Mason Plumlee
Detroit Pistons Reggie Bullock Langston Galloway Eric Moreland Anthony Tolliver	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Golden State Warriors Nick Young Omri Casspi Zaza Pachulia (Veto Rights) Kevin Durant (Veto Rights) David West (Veto Rights) JaVale McGee (Veto Rights)	Trade Eligible January 15th Andre Iguodala Shaun Livingston
Houston Rockets Tarik Black Nene Luc Mbah a Moute P.J. Tucker Troy Williams	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Indiana Pacers Bojan Bogdanovic Darren Collison Damien Wilkins	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Los Angeles Clippers Danilo Gallinari Marshall Plumlee Willie Reed Milos Teodosic	Trade Eligible January 15th Blake Griffin
Los Angeles Lakers Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Tyler Ennis	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Memphis Grizzlies Mario Chalmers Tyreke Evans Ben McLemore Wayne Selden	Trade Eligible January 15th JaMychal Green
Miami Heat James Johnson Jordan Mickey Kelly Olynyk Dion Waiters Udonis Haslem (Veto Rights)	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Milwaukee Bucks None	Trade Eligible January 15th Tony Snell
Minnesota Timberwolves Jamal Crawford Jeff Teague Marcus Georges-Hunt Taj Gibson Shabazz Muhammad (Veto Rights)	Trade Eligible January 15th None
New Orleans Pelicans Tony Allen Ian Clark Darius Miller Rajon Rondo	Trade Eligible January 15th Jrue Holiday
New York Knicks Ron Baker Michael Beasley Tim Hardaway Jr. Jarrett Jack Ramon Sessions	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Oklahoma City Thunder Raymond Felton Patrick Patterson Nick Collison (Veto Rights)	Trade Eligible January 15th Andre Roberson
Orlando Magic Arron Afflalo Khem Birch Shelvin Mack Jonathon Simmons Marreese Speights	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Philadelphia 76ers Amir Johnson J.J. Redick Phoenix Suns Alan Williams	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Phoenix Suns Alan Williams	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Portland Trail Blazers None	Trade Eligible January 15th None
Sacramento Kings Vince Carter George Hill Zach Randolph	Trade Eligible January 15th None
San Antonio Spurs Pau Gasol Rudy Gay Manu Ginobili Joffrey Lauvergne Brandon Paul	Trade Eligible January 15th Patty Mills
Toronto Raptors Alfonzo McKinnie C.J. Miles	Trade Eligible January 15th Serge Ibaka Kyle Lowry
Utah Jazz Jonas Jerebko Royce O’Neale Thabo Sefolosha Ekpe Udoh	Trade Eligible January 15th Joe Ingles
Washington Wizards Jodie Meeks Mike Scott	Trade Eligible January 15th Otto Porter (Veto Rights)

Tracking all of these details is pretty tedious, which is what makes Basketball Insiders’ salary cap guru Eric Pincus so amazing. If you want to know more about each teams’ cap situation, make sure to check out the team links here for a detailed break down of every team’s cap position and restrictions.

»In Related: Who still has cap space? How about cap exceptions? Check out the 2017-2018 NBA Salaries tool. The most accurate salary data anywhere.

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