Before NBA teams started reaching trade agreements on Thursday, we published the latest entry in our Hoops Rumors Glossary, focusing on the traded player exception. As we explain in our breakdown, the traded player exception can allow over-the-cap teams to receive more salary than they send out in “simultaneous” trades.
The more common form of traded player exception is the one generated in a “non-simultaneous” trade, when a team send out a single player and takes back less salary – or none at all – in return. The team then has one calendar year to use that newly-created exception to acquire one or more players whose salaries fit into that exception.
For instance, the Raptors created a $11,800,000 trade exception in last July’s DeMarre Carroll trade with the Nets, meaning that on Thursday they could have acquired a player earning, say, $11MM without sending out any salary in return.
Not many teams took advantage of their outstanding trade exceptions on Thursday, but at least a couple teams appear to have completed trades with previously existing trade exceptions, or with disabled player exceptions. Nearly every trade completed on Thursday also generated at least one new trade exception, so we’ll round up those newly-created TPEs below.
With the help of tweets from cap experts Albert Nahmad and Bobby Marks, along with information from RealGM’s official transactions log, here’s a breakdown of the new TPEs, sorted by value. Not all of these exceptions have been confirmed with 100% certainty, but this is what we believe they’ll look like. These TPEs will expire if they’re not used by February 8, 2019:
- Utah Jazz: $3,708,883 (Joe Johnson to Kings)
- Portland Trail Blazers: $3,505,233 (Noah Vonleh to Bulls)
- Memphis Grizzlies: $3,028,410 (James Ennis to Pistons)
- Note: If the Grizzlies didn’t use their existing $3.4MM TPE to absorb Brice Johnson‘s salary, this TPE would instead be worth $1,697,250.
- Toronto Raptors: $2,451,225 (Bruno Caboclo to Kings)
- Utah Jazz: $2,386,864 (Rodney Hood to Cavs)
- New Orleans Pelicans: $2,300,000 (Dante Cunningham to Nets)
- Brooklyn Nets: $1,889,040 (Rashad Vaughn to Pelicans)
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $1,471,382 (Dwyane Wade to Heat)
- Detroit Pistons: $1,471,382 (Willie Reed to Bulls)
- Los Angeles Lakers: $1,471,382 (Larry Nance to Cavs)
- Chicago Bulls: $1,429,818 (Jameer Nelson to Pistons)
- Detroit Pistons: $1,331,160 (Brice Johnson to Grizzlies)
- Miami Heat: $1,312,611 (Okaro White to Hawks)
- Washington Wizards: $1,312,611 (Sheldon Mac to Hawks)
- Dallas Mavericks: $1,107,552 (Devin Harris to Nuggets)
- Note: This TPE is not listed by RealGM.
Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions has been updated, and will be adjusted if necessary once we’re able to confirm all the TPEs listed above.
If you have any corrections or questions, please let us know in the comment section.
Outstanding content.