NBA Rumors - HoopsRumors.com

Players Who Can’t Be Traded Until January 15

August 5th, 2025 at 12:51pm CST by Luke Adams

As we detailed in a separate article, players who signed new contracts as free agents during the 2025/26 league year can’t be traded for three months or until December 15, whichever comes later. That means that nearly every team has at least one player – and often more than one – who won’t become trade-eligible until mid-December.

There’s also a small subset of free agent signees whose trade ineligibility lasts for an extra month. These players all meet a specific set of criteria: Not only did they re-sign with their previous team this offseason, but they got a raise exceeding 20%, their salary is worth more than the minimum, and their team was over the cap, using Bird or Early Bird rights to sign them.

Listed below are the players who meet this criteria and can’t be traded any earlier than January 15, 2026. Players who have the ability to veto trades in 2025/26 are marked with an asterisk (*).

We’ll continue to update this page over the next few months, if necessary.

Contract Details: Bridges, Springer, Two-Ways

August 5th, 2025 at 11:37am CST by Luke Adams

Mikal Bridges‘ new four-year contract extension with the Knicks will start at $33,482,145 in 2026/27, Hoops Rumors has learned. Bridges’ maximum first-year salary on a veteran extension would have been $34,860,000, so his actual deal will come in about $1.38MM below that.

Bridges will earn $36,160,714 in 2027/28 and $38,839,285 in ’28/29, with a ’29/30 player option worth $41,517,856, for a total of exactly $150MM.

Interestingly, while most trade kickers are worth either the maximum allowable 15% or a round number like 5% or 10%, the trade kicker on Bridges’ deal comes in at 5.69%.

Here are more details on recently signed contracts from around the NBA:

Jaden Springer‘s one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Pelicans includes Exhibit 9 language but not an Exhibit 10 clause, Hoops Rumors has learned. Those terms Springer will be competing for a 15-man roster spot in training camp and likely doesn’t plan on joining New Orleans’ G League affiliate if he’s waived before opening night.
The two-way contracts recently signed by Enrique Freeman with the Timberwolves and Daeqwon Plowden with the Kings are both just for one year, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. Freeman got the maximum allowable $85,000 partial guarantee and will have 50% of his $636,435 salary guaranteed if he remains under contract through opening night, while Plowden received a $75K partial guarantee.
Max Shulga‘s two-way contract with the Celtics also just covers one season, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. That’s notable, since a handful of second-rounders drafted ahead of him signed two-year two-way deals. The No. 57 overall pick, who got a partial guarantee worth $85,300, will be eligible for restricted free agency in 2026.

Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 8/5/2025

August 5th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Arthur Hill

Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included Jonathan Kuminga's standoff with the Warriors, De'Aaron Fox's future after signing an extension, new speculation about Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Lakers' strategy of focusing on the 2027 free agent class and more!

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Players Who Can’t Be Traded Until December 15

August 5th, 2025 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

As teams explore the trade market for potential deals to complete their rosters for training camp, there are a number of trade restrictions those clubs must take into account. Most notably, newly signed free agents can’t be dealt until at least December 15.

The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a free agent who signs with an NBA team can’t be traded for three months or until December 15, whichever is later. There are also some recently signed players who meet a few specific criteria and can’t be traded until January 15. That list of players can be found right here.

The players who aren’t eligible to be traded until December 15 are listed below.

Players whose contracts haven’t been officially finalized aren’t yet listed below. Players who have the ability to veto trades in 2025/26 are marked with a caret (^). Players on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts are marked with an asterisk (*).

We’ll continue to update this page over the next few months as players are signed or waived.

Updated 10-28-25 (10:32 am CT)

Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

Charlotte Hornets

Mason Plumlee

Chicago Bulls

Tre Jones

Cleveland Cavaliers

Larry Nance Jr.

Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets

Bruce Brown
Tim Hardaway Jr.

Detroit Pistons

Golden State Warriors

None

Houston Rockets

Indiana Pacers

None

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

Memphis Grizzlies

Miami Heat

Dru Smith

Milwaukee Bucks

Minnesota Timberwolves

New Orleans Pelicans

Kevon Looney

New York Knicks

Oklahoma City Thunder

Ajay Mitchell

Orlando Magic

Tyus Jones
Moritz Wagner ^

Philadelphia 76ers

Phoenix Suns

Collin Gillespie ^
Nigel Hayes-Davis

Portland Trail Blazers

Damian Lillard ^
Blake Wesley

Sacramento Kings

San Antonio Spurs

Toronto Raptors

Sandro Mamukelashvili
Garrett Temple

Utah Jazz

None

Washington Wizards

Marvin Bagley III
Anthony Gill

Categories:
Hoops Rumors Originals

Cavs’ Atkinson Talks Garland’s Recovery, Point Guard Plan, More

August 5th, 2025 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland said on Saturday that he feels “great” in the wake of June toe surgery, but that doesn’t mean the team is counting on having him available when training camp begins this fall. Reporting at the time of Garland’s surgery indicated he would likely miss the start of the season, and head coach Kenny Atkinson confirmed to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required) that he doesn’t expect Garland to be fully healthy when the club reconvenes this fall.

“That’s not a medical opinion. That’s just my sense of this,” Atkinson said during an appearance at Garland’s celebrity softball game in Eastlake. “Under-promise and over-deliver. We’re not going to rush or push this. If he is ready, then great. I will rely on (trainer) Steve (Spiro) and Darius to tell me. But I don’t expect that.”

Atkinson told Fedor that Garland has approached his rehab process “really well” and is focused on strength training until he’s able to run again. The Cavs’ head coach also expressed confidence in the point guard alternatives he’ll have on hand while his starter is on the shelf, even after Ty Jerome departed Cleveland for Memphis in free agency.

“We have Don (Donovan Mitchell). We have Lonzo (Ball). We have CP (Craig Porter Jr.),” Atkinson said. “We are kind of covered. We also have Evan (Mobley), where we can throw it to him in a trail position and have him be a play-maker.”

Pointing out that tinkering with his lineups will likely result in the Cavs learning some things about their players that they otherwise wouldn’t figure out, Atkinson suggested he’ll welcome the opportunity to problem-solve and find the silver lining in Garland’s early-season absence.

“I hate that this injury happened to Darius, but it allows you to start figuring out things for the times he is not available,” Atkinson said. “Last year in the playoffs it just hit us and maybe we weren’t as prepared as we could have been. If we have to play games without him, this will allow us to kind of experiment a little and see if we can find play-making in other places.”

The Cavaliers’ coach also acknowledged that managing playing time for Garland and other key players over the course of the season will be something the team seriously consider after the roster was hit hard by injuries in the 2025 postseason.

“I think that is the plan for the whole roster,” Atkinson said. “How do we become a more durable team? We are going into round two (of the playoffs) and we have 14 guys healthy, that’s the goal. We had a plan in place, but I think we have to do better when it comes to figuring that out. It’s a hard part of my job too.”

Jack McVeigh Signs With Cairns Taipans

August 5th, 2025 at 7:40am CST by Luke Adams

After spending the 2024/25 season on a two-way contract with the Rockets, Australian forward Jack McVeigh is heading back to his home country, having signed a two-year contract with the Cairns Taipans, according to an announcement from the team. The second year of the deal is a mutual option.

McVeigh, 29, competed for several seasons in Australia’s National Basketball League before making the leap to the NBA last summer. He appeared in just nine games for Houston as a rookie in 2024/25, but was a featured player for the Rockets’ G League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, making 34 total appearances for the club.

McVeigh averaged 16.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 30.7 minutes per game for the Vipers, posting a shooting line of .440/.370/.875.

The 6’8″ forward remained stateside in July and suited up for Atlanta’s Summer League squad, posting solid averages of 14.0 PPG and 2.5 RPG on .588/.455/1.000 shooting across four outings (22.8 MPG). Reporting over the weekend indicated that he was hoping to parlay that performance into another NBA opportunity, but it appears no appealing offers materialized.

McVeigh’s new contract is worth $2MM over two seasons, making him the highest-paid player in Taipans history, per Olgun Uluc of ESPN (Twitter links). As Uluc outlines, McVeigh will be one of the four highest earners in the NBL heading into the 2025/26 season, joining Bryce Cotton, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr., and Xavier Cooks as players who are making at least $1MM annually.

Jeff Dowtin Jr. Signs With Maccabi Tel Aviv

August 5th, 2025 at 7:19am CST by Arthur Hill

August 5: Maccabi Tel Aviv has officially confirmed its deal with Dowtin, announcing in a press release that it’s actually a three-year contract. Based on Stein’s reporting (detailed below), it sounds like the contract will feature NBA outs.

August 4: Jeff Dowtin Jr. will sign a two-year contract with Maccabi Tel Aviv, agent Bill Neff tells Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Twitter link).

The 28-year-old point guard received interest from several European clubs, Stein adds (Twitter link). He and the team will have a mutual option on the second season of his new deal.

Dowtin spent last season with the Sixers on a two-way contract after joining the team in March of 2024. He appeared in 41 NBA games, averaging 7.0 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 15.1 minutes per night with .487/.400/.733 shooting numbers.

Dowtin signed with Orlando after going undrafted out of Rhode Island in 2020, but he didn’t make his NBA debut until 2021 when Golden State claimed him off waivers. He played one game with Milwaukee on a 10-day contract the following season before returning to the Magic on a 10-day deal. He also spent time with Toronto before coming to Philadelphia.

Stein points out that Dowtin is the third member of last year’s Sixers team to wind up with Maccabi Tel Aviv (Twitter link). He joins Lonnie Walker IV, whose signing was announced earlier today, and Oshae Brissett, who was added to the Israeli team in July.

Trail Blazers Notes: Grant, Allen, Arena

August 4th, 2025 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With no apparent traction on a Jerami Grant trade, there’s a real chance the veteran forward will have to settle for a second-unit role with the Trail Blazers, Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report writes in his latest mailbag (subscription required). Grant would be one of the most expensive reserves in the league — he’s entering the third season of a five-year, $160MM contract that includes a player option.

Highkin notes it would be tough to justify having Deni Avdija or Toumani Camara come off the bench, considering they were the team’s best players last season. Grant’s best option would be to rebuild his value after a subpar season and make it easier for the Blazers to trade him to a team that may want him as a starter.

Here’s more on the Trail Blazers:

Jody Allen is running the team, though technically she’s not the owner, Bruce Schoenfeld of Sportico writes in an in-depth feature. She is the executor of Paul Allen’s estate and the sole trustee of his assets and is required by the terms of her brother’s will to eventually sell the team. While the Blazers announced in May that the franchise is for sale, Jody Allen doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to do so or to find out exactly how much the franchise is currently worth. Keeping the team in Portland is assumed to be a condition when the team is sold.
The lease on the Moda Center expires in 2030 and Highkin speculates that the future ownership group will pressure the state for money to build a new arena. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said recently that “One of the factors there is that the city of Portland likely needs a new arena, so that will be part of the challenge for any new ownership group coming in.” Oregon Governor Tina Kotek and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson issued a joint open letter to Silver, suggesting instead that major renovations to Moda Center would suffice.
In case you missed it, Damian Lillard will be the GM for Weber State’s men’s basketball program. Get the details here.

Heat Notes: Westbrook, Powell, Bridges, Herro, Fontecchio

August 4th, 2025 at 8:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Signing free agent guard Russell Westbrook wouldn’t make much sense for the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. Winderman anticipates that Westbrook would rather sign with a team that has a stronger chance to contend.

Bringing in any free agent at this point creates salary cap and luxury tax issues for the Heat, according to Winderman, who also notes that Westbrook would likely to have to accept a role as the fourth guard in the rotation behind Tyler Herro, Norman Powell and Davion Mitchell.

We have more on the Heat:

Powell, who was traded to the Heat by the Clippers last month, is training in South Florida but not with the Heat. He’s working out with the Jamaican national team, which is holding its training camp at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton to prepare for the FIBA World Cup 2027 Americas pre-qualifiers, per Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald, “I was expecting training camp to be in Jamaica, but then I learned that it was in Boca. And then being traded to the Heat, being so close to where I’ll be playing and being able to go down there and go to the facility, look for a place to stay. … It’s definitely cool,” Powell said.
Mikal Bridges‘ extension with the Knicks provides an interesting comp for future negotiations between the Heat and Herro, Winderman writes. While Bridges has never made an All-Star team or won an NBA award, unlike Herro, he’s a better two-way player. Bridges’ average of $37.5MM per season in his four-year extension still might not be enough to lock down Herro to a long-term agreement, notes Winderman.
Also at The Sun Sentinel, Winderman explores whether it would make sense for the Heat to utilize the stretch provision before the Aug. 29 deadline, pointing out that they could move below the luxury tax line by shedding some salary. The primary candidate, in Winderman’s view, is Simone Fontecchio, who was acquired in the Duncan Robinson sign-and-trade with Detroit. He has an $8.3MM expiring contract which could be stretched at $2.7MM over each of the next three seasons.

Southwest Notes: Lively, Flagg, Giannis, Wembanyama, Sengun, Durant, Smith Jr.

August 4th, 2025 at 6:14pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks center Dereck Lively II has only two years of NBA experience but he’s playing a mentorship role to top pick Cooper Flagg, according to Jake Rogers of Dallas Hoops Journal. Naturally, they have a college connection, as both were one-and-dones at Duke.

“I’ve probably known him for a couple of years now, at least two or three,” Lively said. “He’s always been the same smiling, joking kid. I’m glad he’s been able to stay grounded, not letting the spotlight overwhelm him. Whether he’s in the gym or hanging out at the house, he’s always just being Coop.”

Lively has stayed in frequent contact with Flagg since the draft.

“I’m making sure he feels as comfortable as possible, giving him any little detail or advice. I remember how frightened I was at 19. He’s only 18,” Lively said.

Here’s more from the Southwest Division:

Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo has carved out a Hall of Fame worthy career but he’s also into collecting memorabilia of other NBA superstars. His current target is Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, he told Brooks Peck of The Athletic during an appearance at the National Sports Collector Convention. “I want Wemby’s first rookie card ever,” Antetokounmpo said. “I think he’s gonna be one of the best players in the league in the next couple of years. I think he will have a very great career moving forward, so — maybe like a jersey, his first jersey or his first basketball shoe when he played his first NBA game, or the first ball that he played with and scored his very first point. You gotta go with Wemby, Steph (Curry), LeBron (James), MJ (Michael Jordan). Those are great investments.”
Rockets center Alperen Sengun believes the offense will thrive with the addition of Kevin Durant. Sengun, who will play for Turkey in EuroBasket, made his comments to Anadolu, Turkey’s state-run news agency (hat tip to RocketsWire). “I’m excited to play with Durant. Everyone is excited to play with him. It doesn’t matter his age — ultimately, he’s Kevin Durant. I have no doubt he will bring a lot to the team,” Sengun said. “He’s very experienced, and we have some very young players. I think he’ll open up the game for us. He’s incredibly effective both offensively and defensively.”
Along the same lines, Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. said he believes playing with Durant will be a learning experience, RocketsWire relays via an interview with Space City Home Network’s Vanessa Richardson. “Kevin Durant is one of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball,” Smith said. “It’s going to be great for me to learn from him, and see what he does, day-to-day… and just soak up as much game as I can. It’s going to be fun playing alongside him and going to battle with him.”