Front Office Originals News & Rumors

Last week, we examined several big men who are candidates to be on the move prior to the February 5 deadline. On Monday, we outlined what each NBA team can and can't do on the trade market.

Today we'll take a closer look at several wings who could be dealt over the next six days. There's a wide range of contracts and player values among this group, with significant question marks starting at the top.

Let's dive in...

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The moves a team can make on the in-season trade market are dictated in large part by its position relative to the salary cap and to the first and second tax aprons. A team like the Nets, which is operating below the cap, has far more flexibility to make various kinds of deadline deals than a club whose team salary is above the second apron, such as the Cavaliers.

While only one trade has been completed since the season began, that number will grow significantly by February 5. Before that pre-deadline rush arrives, it's worth breaking down exactly what each of the NBA's 30 teams can and can't do on the trade market.

Within each section below, we're sorting teams by their total salary (as of Jan. 26), from highest to lowest.

Let's dive in...

Teams operating above the second tax apron:

• Cleveland Cavaliers

Teams whose total salaries exceed the second tax apron of $207,824,000 don't face any sort of hard cap, but their trade options are extremely limited. Here are the restrictions they face:

❌ Not permitted to aggregate two or more player salaries for matching purposes.
❌ Not permitted to use an outgoing player's salary for matching purposes to take back more than 100% of his salary.
❌ Not permitted to use a traded player exception that was generated during the 2024/25 regular season.
❌ Not permitted to use a traded player exception that was generated using a signed-and-traded player.
❌ Not permitted to use the bi-annual exception or mid-level exception to acquire a player via trade.
❌ Not permitted to send out cash in a trade.

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A player who is on a two-way contract is ineligible to be active for more than 50 regular season games, and several two-way players around the NBA are fast approaching their respective individual game limits.

However, some players on two-way contracts are also subject to a lesser-known game limit that applies to teams as a whole and can prevent players from suiting up even before they reach the 50-game mark. Known as the "under-15" rule, this restriction prevents a team carrying fewer than 15 players on its standard roster from having its two-way players active for more than 90 combined games.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Two-Way Contract]

In other words, if a team with 14 players on standard contracts has all three of its players on two-way contracts active for each of its first 30 games of the season, it would reach its 90-game limit and would be unable to use its two-way players until a 15th man is added to the standard roster.

Nearly half of the NBA's teams have carried 14-man standard rosters for most of the season, largely due to luxury-tax and hard-cap concerns. Twelve of those 13 teams are operating in tax territory, while the 13th would've surpassed that threshold if it had opened the season with a full 15-man roster.

Today, we're taking a closer look at how those 13 teams have been - and will be - impacted by the under-15 rule, and how it may influence upcoming roster moves made by those clubs.

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Several teams who currently sit well below .500 - including the Bucks, Clippers, and Pacers - are viewed as unlikely to sell off veterans at the February 5 trade deadline due either to a belief they can still make a run this season or a desire to preserve their core for next season.

Certain other teams projected to end up in the lottery - like the Jazz and Wizards - have few appealing veterans to sell off to begin with, since their rosters are heavy on young players and veteran cornerstones they're reportedly not looking to move, such as Lauri Markkanen in Utah and Trae Young in Washington.

With 20 playoff or play-in spots up for grabs and several of those bottom 10 teams not preparing to hold fire sales, the door could be open for a handful of would-be sellers to fill the void and conduct some favorable business in the coming weeks.

We're looking today at five teams well positioned to cash in on several trade chips -- if they choose to go that route.

Let's dive in...

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