Month: August 2019

An NBA team can create a traded player exception when it sends out a player’s salary in a trade without taking back the same total salary in return — or without taking back any salary in return. A traded player exception, which we explain in more detail in our glossary entry, can be used within the next year to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim.

Most traded player exceptions – even sizeable ones – go unused, but that’s not always the case. Earlier this offseason, for instance, the Grizzlies created a $25MM trade exception in their Mike Conley deal with Utah. Memphis later used the Conley TPE to take on Andre Iguodala‘s $17MM salary, then used the remainder to acquire Josh Jackson ($7MM). That exception has less than $800K left on it now, so the Grizzlies probably won’t use it again, but it’s proven extremely valuable this summer.

While most of the trade exceptions currently available around the NBA will simply expire once the year is up, it’s worth keeping an eye on the most valuable TPEs to see if they might come in handy for teams during the 2019/20 league year.

Here are the top five most valuable TPEs, most of which could be used to acquire a player earning more than the full mid-level exception:

1. Golden State Warriors: $17,185,185 (expires 7/7/20): Since they’re hard-capped for the rest of the 2019/20 league year, the Warriors are extremely unlikely to make use of this exception – created in the Andre Iguodala trade – before next summer. However, when the new league year begins next July, this exception could be an interesting tool for the over-the-cap (but no longer hard-capped) Warriors to make a deal during the 2020 offseason.
2. Dallas Mavericks: $11,825,694 (expires 2/7/20): Initially worth $21MM+, this Harrison Barnes trade exception was nearly cut in half when Dallas used it to acquire Delon Wright. It’s still valuable enough to potentially come in handy before the 2020 trade deadline though. The Mavericks are far enough below the luxury tax line to acquire a salary worth $11.8MM and still stay out of tax territory.
3. Oklahoma City Thunder: $10,389,997 (expires 7/10/20): Besides stockpiling draft picks in their trades of Paul George, Jerami Grant, and Russell Westbrook this summer, the Thunder also created a pair of robust trade exceptions. This one was generated in the George deal. Unfortunately, since Oklahoma City appears committed to sneaking below the tax line in 2019/20, the odds of the club using this exception are slim — it could potentially come in handy next July before it expires though.
4. Oklahoma City Thunder: $9,346,153 (expires 7/8/20): If the Thunder‘s odds of using one trade exception are slim, their odds of using both are microscopic. This TPE was generated in the Grant deal with Denver.
5. Miami Heat: $6,270,000 (expires 2/6/20): Like the Warriors, the Heat are hard-capped, so unless they can somehow shed salary within the next several months, this exception – created in February’s Wayne Ellington deal – will simply expire without being used.

The rest of the NBA’s available traded player exceptions can be found right here.

We’re nearly six weeks into the NBA’s 2019 free agent period, and the market has been just about picked clean. None of our top 50 free agents of 2019 remain on the board, and news of free agent signings within the last week or two has focused primarily on non-guaranteed training camp invitees.

Still, our list of remaining 2019 free agents features some interesting names. Roster spots around the NBA are becoming scarce, but a number of unsigned players could help out contending teams. Some of these players could sign in the coming days or weeks, while others may have to wait for injuries to open up opportunities.

In a series of posts, we’re taking a closer look at some of the most noteworthy free agents still on the board, breaking them down by position. That series started on Thursday when we focused on a handful of the best free agent guards available. It continues today with a list of some of the most intriguing veteran wings on the open market.

Let’s dive in…

• Iman Shumpert: Shumpert is one of the few free agents left who can say he played regular minutes for an NBA title contender last season. He averaged 15.4 minutes per contest in Houston’s six games against Golden State in the Western Conference Semifinals. Using him as a sign-and-trade chip would be the Rockets‘ best chance to land Andre Iguodala via trade and would assure Shumpert of another eight-figure salary, so I suspect he has been willing to wait to see if that’s still a possibility. Otherwise, he’ll likely get a minimum-salary deal somewhere before the season begins.
• Carmelo Anthony: We’ve covered Anthony’s desire to return to the NBA extensively in recent weeks. Now, it’s a matter of seeing whether a team is willing to take a shot on him. Many of the clubs that we’d normally view as logical suitors are considered long shots – the Lakers reportedly don’t have much interest, while the Heat are hard-capped – so it’s certainly not a lock that the 10-time All-Star will be on a roster when training camps open next month.
• Thabo Sefolosha: Although Sefolosha isn’t a volume three-point shooter, he has knocked down 36.7% of his outside attempts over the last four years, and plays solid defense. At age 35, he may have slowed a step, but he could still be a useful piece for a team seeking a role player or insurance policy on the wing.
• Jodie Meeks: His playoff role was the definition of “limited” (he averaged 4.7 minutes per game in 14 postseason contests), but Meeks was still a contributor for the NBA-champion Raptors. He’s also a career 37.3% three-point shooter. The veteran swingman may need to accept a partially guaranteed or non-guaranteed contract, but he should be in camp with an NBA team. The Clippers and Hornets are said to have some interest.
• Jonathon Simmons: It feels like eons ago that Simmons was turning heads in the 2017 postseason for the Spurs after Kawhi Leonard went down with an ankle injury vs. Golden State. He has been okay since then, averaging 10.6 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 2.4 APG in 125 games (24.7 MPG) for the Magic and Sixers. Simmons could be a decent flier at the minimum.
• Corey Brewer: Brewer looked so good on a series of 10-day contracts with the Sixers and Kings last season that Sacramento offered him $2MM on a rest-of-season deal at the end of February to secure him for the season’s final six weeks. If he doesn’t find a new NBA home by opening night, Brewer could do what he did last year and try to catch on somewhere midway through the season. He’d be a solid plug-and-play option for a team hit with injuries.

Michael Beasley appears unlikely to return to the NBA anytime soon. He was hit with a five-game suspension for violating the league’s anti-drug policy and is reportedly leaning toward a return to China. Another former top-10 pick, Luol Deng, may be nearing the end of the road — the 34-year-old was hampered by Achilles issues last season and has played just 23 games in the last two years.

Luc Mbah a Moute is another player who has been slowed by health problems, but he was a key rotation player for the Rockets in 2017/18. If he can get healthy, he should receive NBA interest. Dante Cunningham is more of a stretch four than a wing, but he continues to post solid shooting numbers as he bounces around from team to team (.462 3PT% in 64 games for the Spurs in 2018/19, albeit on just 65 attempts).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.