Top Extension Candidates Among Recently Traded Players
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.
Examining The Hornets’ Trade Deadline Moves
The Hornets executed five trades ahead of last week's deadline, using their cap flexibility to act an unconventional buyer without giving up valuable assets in the process. Today we're taking a closer look at Charlotte's moves and how the team pulled them off.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 2/12/2026
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the new-look Cavaliers, the Hornets' surge and Charles Lee's Coach of the Year chances, the NBA's options to limit tanking, whether Giannis Antetokounmpo or Kawhi Leonard is more likely to be traded and more!
Deadline Observations: Trade Flexibility, First-Rounders, Hard Caps
After 28 trades were completed and 73 players were on the move between last Sunday and Thursday - both new NBA records for a trade deadline week - we're still sorting through all those deals to identify trends, cap-related oddities, and other under-the-radar details.
Having taken a deep dive on Saturday into how a pair of minor deadline trades were affected by new details that surfaced hours or days after those deals were first reported, we're focusing today on a handful of several of the major moves that were finalized prior to Thursday's deadline, including the trades involving Anthony Davis, Jaren Jackson Jr., and Ivica Zubac.
Let's dive in...
How Belated Details Added New Context To Two Minor Deadline Deals
Here at Hoops Rumors, we pride ourselves on making sure that every single asset that changes hands in a trade shows up in our breakdown of that deal -- even the ones so minor that the term "asset" hardly applies.
In some cases, tracking that information is pretty simple. For instance, the Warriors and Hawks made it easy on us on Wednesday when they agreed to swap Jonathan Kuminga and Buddy Hield for Kristaps Porzingis in a deal that included no draft picks, no cash, no draft-rights players, and no additional pieces at all besides those three players.
In other instances, it's trickier, with certain missing pieces revealed belatedly, well after a trade has been agreed upon -- or even well after it has been officially finalized and announced.
On Thursday evening, for example, I spent way too much time trying to track down the details on what the Cavaliers got back from the Jazz in the trade that sent Lonzo Ball and a pair of second-round picks to Utah. Even when those two teams formally announced the trade in press releases, neither the Cavs nor the Jazz included any mention of what was headed from Utah to Cleveland.
In most cases, those missing details end up very minor. Case in point: We eventually learned on Friday that the Jazz sent $110K to Cleveland in the Ball trade. If they were going to include cash as their outgoing piece, that was the absolute minimum amount the Jazz could've sent to make the deal legal.
"Fake" second-round picks - second-rounders that include top-55 protection - are another type of minor asset often reported well after the fact. That was the case when the Celtics traded Xavier Tillman Sr. and $3.5MM in cash to Charlotte in a last-minute deal on Thursday. The inclusion of Tillman and the cash was reported at the same time, but it wasn't until the Hornets announced the trade about seven hours later that we learned they'd sent the Celtics a top-55 protected 2030 second-round pick to complete the transaction.
That heavily protected second-round pick didn't change our understanding of the Celtics/Hornets swap, just like the revelation that the Jazz had sent out $110K in the Ball deal didn't reshape our perception of the pros and cons of that move for Utah and Cleveland.
However, there were a couple belatedly reported trade details this week that did add new context to those relatively minor deals.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 2/4/2026
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included trade options for the Hawks, Cavaliers, Clippers, Bulls and Rockets, what the Celtics' moves might mean for Jayson Tatum, the Raptors' pursuit of Domantas Sabonis, plenty of questions about Giannis Antetokounmpo's future and more!
Examining The NBA Trade Market: Wings
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...
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 1/29/2026
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included whether the Warriors can compete for another title before Stephen Curry retires, the Clippers' options on the trade market, Yves Missi as a possibility for the Bulls, Karl-Anthony Towns' future with the Knicks, and plenty of questions about Giannis Antetokounmpo!
What Each NBA Team Can, Can’t Do On The Trade Market
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.
Examining The NBA Trade Market: Big Men
Many of the prominent players involved in trade rumors this season have been big men. That list includes stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Domantas Sabonis and Karl-Anthony Towns.
In addition to those four players, we'll take a look today at several other power forwards and centers who are candidates to be on the move ahead of the February 5 trade deadline. Let's dive in...