Of the 67 players on standard NBA contracts who were traded during the week of this year's trade deadline, 17 are immediately eligible to sign a contract extension.
Each player in that group has an opportunity to reach free agency this summer, either because their contract will expire or because a player or team option could be declined. However, each player could also choose to forgo free agency - or a potential option decision - by signing an extension with his new team in the coming days, weeks, or months -- assuming his new team is willing to put an offer on the table.
When an extension-eligible player is traded, he faces certain restrictions for the next six months that weren't in place before. He can't sign an extension that would keep him under contract for more than four total years (including the current season); the first-year salary on his extension can't exceed 120% of his previous salary (or 120% of the NBA's estimated average salary, if he's earning below that amount), and his subsequent annual raises can't be greater than 5%.
While those restrictions may complicate matters for a couple of those 17 extension candidates, they don't represent a meaningful obstacle for most of them.
With that in mind, let's take a closer look at which players from this group of 17 are the most and least likely candidates to sign new contracts before the 2026/27 league year begins.
