NBA
Which NBA Players Cannot Be Traded?
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
The NBA trade deadline is on Thursday, February 20 but a number of players can rest easy knowing they won’t be traded.
Any free agents who sign during the regular season cannot be dealt for three full months.
The following players are not trade eligible this season:
Alexis Ajinca — New Orleans Pelicans
D.J. Augustin — Chicago Bulls
Luke Babbitt — New Orleans Pelicans
Leandro Barbosa — Phoenix Suns
Andrew Bogut — Golden State Warriors (contract extension)
Shannon Brown — San Antonio Spurs
Kobe Bryant — Los Angeles Lakers (contract extension)
Andrew Bynum — Indiana Pacers
Chris Douglas-Roberts — Charlotte Bobcats
Chris Johnson — Boston Celtics
James Johnson — Memphis Grizzlies
Kendall Marshall — Los Angeles Lakers
Cartier Martin — Atlanta Hawks
Malcolm Thomas — Utah Jazz
Hedo Turkoglu — Los Angeles Clippers
Jeremy Tyler — New York Knicks
Elliott Williams and Lorenzo Brown were signed late, but not late enough. Their trade restriction lifts on the deadline itself. If the Philadelphia 76ers want to deal either, there’s a brief window available to do so on February 20.
Additionally, players signed to a one-year deal who will have Bird or Early Bird Rights next summer have the ability to block a trade.
“One Year Bird” players include:
Chris Andersen — Miami HEAT
Andray Blatche — Brooklyn Nets
Aaron Brooks — Houston Rockets
Derek Fisher — Oklahoma City Thunder
Francisco Garcia — Houston Rockets
Ryan Hollins — Los Angeles Clippers
Bernard James — Dallas Mavericks
Kenyon Martin — New York Knicks
Josh McRoberts — Charlotte Bobcats
Nazr Mohammed — Chicago Bulls
Jannero Pargo — Charlotte Bobcats
Garrett Temple — Washington Wizards
Jeff Teague (Hawks) can be traded, but has an implicit no-trade clause until July 13. Because he signed an offer sheet with the Milwaukee Bucks, the Hawks cannot deal him to Milwaukee until after that date.
Amnestied players cannot be traded back to their original teams. Here are the active players who were amnestied, followed by the team that cannot re-acquire them.
Chris Andersen (Miami HEAT) — Denver Nuggets
Andray Blatche (Brooklyn Nets) — Washington Wizards
Brendan Haywood (Charlotte Bobcats) — Dallas Mavericks
Mike Miller (Minnesota Timberwolves) — Miami HEAT
Travis Outlaw (Sacramento Kings) — Brooklyn Nets
Luis Scola (Indiana Pacers) — Houston Rockets
Metta World Peace (New York Knicks) — Los Angeles Lakers
Recently traded players can be shipped off again, but if their existing team is over the cap, they cannot be packaged out with other players for two months (and not in time for the deadline):
Joel Anthony — Boston Celtics
Jerryd Bayless — Boston Celtics
Tornike Shengelia — Chicago Bulls
Luol Deng — Cleveland Cavaliers
Jordan Crawford — Golden State Warriors
MarShon Brooks — Golden State Warriors
Toney Douglas — Miami HEAT
Finally, a few players possess true no-trade clauses:
Dirk Nowitzki — Dallas Mavericks
Kobe Bryant — Los Angeles Lakers
Kevin Garnett — Brooklyn Nets
Tim Duncan — San Antonio Spurs
Finally, Basketball Insiders has compiled a list of players armed with NBA Trade Bonuses.
