It’s been an active season for trades in the NBA. We’re still more than a month away from the deadline and we’ve already seen five swaps, including today’s three-teamer between the Warriors, Celtics and Heat. The door to the action opens just a little bit wider today, as seven more players become eligible to be included in trades. It’s not quite a landmark sort of occasion like December 15th, when most free agents signed in the offseason, along with a few others, become fair game for trades, but the arrival of January 15th nonetheless represents one fewer obstacle to player movement.
Players who received a raise of better than 20% this summer when they re-signed via Bird or Early Bird rights with a team that was over the cap weren’t eligible to be traded until today, as long as they were making more than the minimum salary last season. That narrow distinction applies to the following players:
- Tony Allen, Grizzlies
- Chase Budinger, Timberwolves
- Timofey Mozgov, Nuggets
- J.R. Smith, Knicks
- Tiago Splitter, Spurs
- Nikola Pekovic, Timberwolves
- Brandan Wright, Mavericks
The Wolves are the only team with two players on that list, but J.R. Smith seems far and away the most likely trade candidate, and he’s uncertain about his future in New York, as we passed along this morning. It doesn’t seem as though there’s much of a market for him, but if a team wants to engage in talks with the Knicks about the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, collective bargaining agreement rules won’t forestall a move any longer.
ShamSports, RealGM, and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.