No-trade clauses, like the one Carmelo Anthony says he has no intention to waive to facilitate an exit from the Knicks, are rare in the NBA. Only a half-dozen of the most decorated players have them. It’s much more common that a player will gain a de facto no-trade clause through a quirk in the league’s collective bargaining agreement.
Bird rights, Early Bird rights and Non-Bird rights are all mechanisms that allow teams to go above the salary cap to retain their own players. Trades usually have no effect on those rights, but that’s not the case with players on one-year contracts, or two-year contracts that include an option. A team that acquires a player on a one-year deal via trade can’t use any form of Bird rights to re-sign that player the following offseason. The player often stands to lose financially in such a case, so the NBA allows players who re-signed with their previous teams on one-year contracts, or two-year contracts with option clauses, to block trades if they choose.
Two other situations allow players to veto trades. Players who sign offer sheets that their original team ends up matching don’t have to be traded if they don’t want to for one year after signing the offer sheet, and players who accepted qualifying offers can block trades, too.
One additional note: No player signed this offseason can be traded until December 15th, at the earliest.
Here’s a team-by-team breakdown of players who can block trades this season:
No-trade clauses
- Carmelo Anthony, Knicks
- Kobe Bryant, Lakers
- *Tim Duncan, Spurs
- Kevin Garnett, Timberwolves
- Dirk Nowitzki, Mavericks
- *Dwyane Wade, Heat
Players whose offer sheets were matched
- Enes Kanter, Thunder
Players accepting qualifying offers
- Norris Cole, Pelicans
- Matthew Dellavedova, Cavaliers
Players re-signing for one year (or two years including option)
- Lou Amundson, Knicks
- Darrell Arthur, Nuggets
- Leandro Barbosa, Warriors
- Matt Bonner, Spurs
- Aaron Brooks, Bulls
- *Tim Duncan, Spurs
- Manu Ginobili, Spurs
- LeBron James, Cavaliers
- James Jones, Cavaliers
- Austin Rivers, Clippers
- J.R. Smith, Cavaliers
- Lance Thomas, Knicks
- Jason Terry, Rockets
- Charlie Villanueva, Mavericks
- *Dwyane Wade, Heat
*- Players with an asterisk by their names have a no-trade clause expressly written in their contracts and have a de facto no-trade clause, too.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.