Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Hoops Rumors Originals

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Miami Heat

September 14th, 2025 at 3:58pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Miami Heat.

Free agent signings

  • Davion Mitchell: Two years, $24,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Dru Smith: Three years, $7,898,151. Second year non-guaranteed. Third-year team option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
  • Dain Dainja: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Trevor Keels: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Gabe Madsen: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Ethan Thompson: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jahmir Young: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 9). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Draft picks

Two-way signings

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $186.1MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
  • Full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($14,104,000) available.
  • Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
  • Five traded player exceptions available (largest worth $16,834,692).

The offseason so far

It was a forgettable season in 2024/25 for the Heat, who engaged in a lengthy standoff with disgruntled star Jimmy Butler that culminated in a deadline trade sending him to Golden State, then wrapped up the year with an underwhelming 12-21 post-deadline performance that dropped the team to the No. 10 spot in the Eastern Conference standings.

The club showed some signs of life in the play-in tournament by becoming the first No. 10 seed to win consecutive play-in games to make the playoffs, but once they got there, the Heat were on the wrong end of a historic beat-down by the top-seeded Cavaliers, who outscored Miami by a whopping 122 points in a four-game sweep.

As ugly as both the second half of the season and that first-round playoff series were, there were at least a couple positive takeaways that stemmed from the Heat’s trade deadline activity. The most obvious one was the play of Davion Mitchell, who was sent from Toronto to Miami as part of the five-team Butler blockbuster.

A defensive specialist who struggled offensively for most of his first three-and-a-half NBA seasons, Mitchell emerged as a starter and averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game with a .504/.447/.702 shooting line in 30 regular season games for the Heat. He was even better in the postseason, making 59.3% of his field goal attempts and 52.0% of his three-pointers with averages of 15.2 PPG and 6.5 APG in six play-in and playoff outings.

Mitchell’s excellent second half earned him a fully guaranteed two-year, $24MM commitment from the Heat. It was easily the most lucrative contract Miami handed out this offseason – the team’s other free agent signings will all earn the minimum in 2025/26 – and it should be a pretty safe investment as long as the offensive strides made last season by the former lottery pick weren’t a one-off.

At $12MM per year, Mitchell doesn’t necessarily need to replicate those strong second-half numbers in order to return positive value — as long as he produces enough to make opposing teams take him seriously as an offensive threat, his play on defense will keep him in the rotation on a consistent basis.

The other notable offseason move the Heat made as a result of their Butler trade was using the No. 20 overall pick in the draft on Kasparas Jakucionis. Having won both of their play-in games, the Heat were forced to sent their own lottery-protected pick (No. 15 overall) to Oklahoma City, but they received the Warriors’ first-rounder as part of the return for Butler, then used it to draft a one-and-done point guard out of Illinois.

Jakucionis didn’t get off to a great start at the California Classic Summer League, where he made just 1-of-15 field goals and had as many turnovers and personal fouls as points (12) in three games. But he was better in Las Vegas, and – as Jared McCain can attest – there’s certainly no guarantee a poor Summer League showing will carry over to the regular season. The Heat are optimistic about the long-term potential of Jakucionis within their developmental system.

Outside of the Mitchell signing and the Jakucionis pick, all of the Heat’s major offseason moves occurred on the trade market, including a sign-and-trade sending Duncan Robinson to Detroit in exchange for Simone Fontecchio and a three-team deal that saw Norman Powell land in Miami in exchange for Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love.

The Robinson transaction was an interesting one. It came as a bit of a surprise in June when the veteran sharpshooter opted out of $19.9MM contract that would have been partially guaranteed for $9.9MM. After all, if he had opted in, Robinson would have been guaranteed at least $9.9MM, with the opportunity to either reach the free agent market anyway (if Miami had waived him) or to make another $10MM (if Miami had kept him).

But the decision to opt out seemingly came with an understanding that the Heat would help Robinson get to a preferred destination. It ended up working out for both sides — Robinson got roughly $18.8MM in guaranteed money on his deal with the Pistons, right around what he would’ve gotten on his full Heat deal, while Miami acquired Fontecchio, whose $8.3MM cap hit will fit into the team’s budget much better than Robinson’s $19.9MM would have.

With the help of savings created by swapping out Robinson for Fontecchio, the Heat were able to take in Powell and his $20.5MM expiring deal in exchange for Anderson and Love, who will earn a combined $13.4MM in 2025/26. While Anderson is a solid role player and Love is a respected locker-room leader, neither player is as valuable as Powell, who is coming off a career year in which he scored 21.8 points per game and made 41.8% of his three-point tries.

The Heat were still operating below the first apron after their trade for Powell, but it left them about $1.6MM above the luxury tax line with 14 players under contract. To address the issue, they attached a 2032 second-round pick to Haywood Highsmith in a trade to Brooklyn, then replaced him by re-signing Dru Smith to a standard multiyear contract that includes one guaranteed season.

Highsmith is in the process of recovering from knee surgery and wasn’t an integral part of the Heat’s roster, but he’s a pretty dependable rotation player who could easily rebuild positive value by the trade deadline if he plays well in Brooklyn. Still, getting out of the tax was an important consideration for a Heat team that had been a taxpayer for the past two seasons and was wary of facing repeater penalties in future seasons.

Up next

The Heat don’t have enough room to add a 15th man to their standard roster without surpassing the luxury tax line. However, the tax line isn’t a hard cap — the team could go into the tax if it wants to, then make an effort to duck below it again later in the season.

The other option for the Heat if they want to bring in one more free agent would be to waive Terry Rozier, whose $26.6MM salary is only partially guaranteed for $24.9MM. Waiving Rozier and signing a newcomer on a minimum-salary deal would keep Miami out of tax territory, though the team still wouldn’t have enough room to add a 15th man while surpassing that threshold. Taking that route would also mean giving up a big expiring contract that could be used in a mid-season trade.

If the Heat do decide to bring in one more player for their regular season roster, it will likely be someone in the frontcourt, since the team is a little thin in the middle — especially if Bam Adebayo resists spending much time at the five. Precious Achiuwa is among the free agents who have been linked to the Heat, while former Miami center Thomas Bryant also remains unsigned for now.

The Heat have one two-way contract slot open alongside Vladislav Goldin and Myron Gardner, and it sounds like that spot will be up for grabs in training camp. Trevor Keels, Jahmir Young, Ethan Thompson, Gabe Madsen, and Dain Dainja are all on Exhibit 10 contracts that can be converted into two-way deals, so they all could be involved in that competition.

The front office will have a major decision to make next month on Tyler Herro, who becomes extension-eligible as of October 1. Owed $64MM over the next two seasons, Herro could sign for as much as $149.7MM over three seasons (beginning in 2027/28). He certainly made a case for a lucrative new deal with his performance last season — he set career highs in points (23.9) and assists (5.5) per game, as well as field goal percentage (47.2%), and made an All-Star team for the first time.

Still, Herro isn’t really a true point guard, has repeatedly battled injuries, and is hardly a lock-down defender. The Heat will be wary of making a massive investment in the 25-year-old, especially since he still has two guaranteed years left on his current contract and doesn’t necessarily have to be extended quite this early. If the two sides don’t agree to terms before the coming season, they could revisit talks next summer.

The Heat have no shortage of additional extension candidates, with Powell, Andrew Wiggins, and Nikola Jovic also eligible to sign new contracts. Of the three, only Jovic has a preseason deadline, meaning those negotiations may be prioritized. But Jovic’s role and availability have been inconsistent through three NBA seasons, so unless Miami can get a pretty team-friendly rate (ie. no more than $10-12MM per year), I’d be somewhat surprised if the two sides work something out this fall.

Powell and Wiggins, meanwhile, will remain extension-eligible into the season, and it sounds like the Heat will wait on Powell to get a better sense of his fit on the roster. It might make sense to take the same path with Wiggins, whose first couple months with the Heat last season were frequently interrupted by health issues, which prevented him really getting into a rhythm with his new team.

Repost Share Send via email

Free Agents Who Sign After Monday Won’t Be Trade-Eligible On December 15

September 14th, 2025 at 2:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Unless he’s part of a sign-and-trade deal, an NBA free agent who signs a new contract can’t be traded immediately. The Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a newly signed free agent is ineligible to be traded until December 15 or until he’s been under contract for three months, whichever comes later.

Based on that rule, the majority of the free agents who signed new contracts in July, August, and the first half of September will become trade-eligible on December 15 (a smaller group of free agents who met certain specific criteria won’t become trade-eligible until January 15).

By our count, at least 81 players are currently on track to become eligible to be moved on December 15. That doesn’t take into account any players signed to Exhibit 9 or Exhibit 10 contracts who might earn regular season roster spots, since they’re not included on our list (they’ll be added if they haven’t been waived by opening night).

However, with the exception of camp invitees who unexpectedly stick around for the regular season, that list won’t continue to expand to include any additional names after Monday, which will be exactly three months away from December 15. A free agent who signs a new contract after September 15 will remain trade-eligible for a full three months rather than becoming trade-eligible on December 15.

For instance, a player who signs on September 22 would become eligible to be dealt on December 22; one who signs on October 4 would become trade-eligible on January 4, and so on.

For most players, there will be no meaningful difference between becoming trade-eligible on December 15 or a few weeks later, since the majority of deals get done in the days leading up to February’s deadline anyway. But a pair of trades were completed on December 15 last season, as soon as certain players’ restrictions lifted. That sort of Dec. 15 trade won’t be possible this season for any free agent who signs after Monday.

It’s also worth noting that a player who is traded after December 16 can’t have his salary aggregated with another player’s salary in a separate deal prior to the trade deadline. That rule will further limit teams’ flexibility to make moves this winter involving late-September or October signees.

Finally, we should mention that November 5 is an important date in this discussion, since this season’s trade deadline will land on February 5. A player who signs a free agent contract on November 6 or later will be ineligible to be dealt during the 2025/26 season.

Once the season begins next month and we have a better sense of which players signed after Sept. 15 have earned spots on regular season rosters, we’ll publish a new list of those players’ trade eligibility dates to complement our December 15 and January 15 round-ups.

Repost Share Send via email

Early Look At Hornets’ Potential Roster Crunch

September 14th, 2025 at 12:53pm CST by Rory Maher

Barring a trade (or two), Charlotte will be facing a roster crunch this fall.

As our tracker shows, the Hornets currently have a full offseason roster, with 18 players on standard contracts (16 guaranteed) and all three two-way spots filled. They need to trim their standard roster down to 15 players before the regular season begins.

None of the players on standard deals are signed to training camp contracts, and until the Hornets free up roster spots, they will be unable to finalize Exhibit 10 deals with players who will be headed to their G League affiliate, the Greensboro Swarm, to open the 2025/26 season. That likely won’t play a factor in the roster battle, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless.

Here’s the list of players currently on standard contracts, sorted by how much money they make:

  1. LaMelo Ball
  2. Miles Bridges
  3. Collin Sexton
  4. Josh Green
  5. Grant Williams
  6. Brandon Miller
  7. Kon Knueppel
  8. Pat Connaughton
  9. Tre Mann
  10. Tidjane Salaun
  11. Liam McNeeley
  12. DaQuan Jeffries *
  13. Nick Smith Jr.
  14. Sion James
  15. Ryan Kalkbrenner
  16. Spencer Dinwiddie
  17. Mason Plumlee
  18. Moussa Diabate *

* Denotes non-guaranteed contract.

Outside of maybe Miller and Knueppel, it wouldn’t totally surprise me if Charlotte decided to eventually trade virtually anyone on the roster. But for the sake of this exercise, we’ll assume that Ball, Bridges, Sexton, Green, Williams, Salaun, McNeeley, James and Kalkbrenner won’t be on the move in the next five-plus weeks.

The Hornets re-signed Mann to a guaranteed three-year, $24MM contract in free agency and he can’t be traded until January 15. It’s safe to say he won’t be waived before the season begins.

Dinwiddie and Plumlee were also free agent additions and neither can be dealt until Dec. 15. Although they both received guaranteed contracts, they’re only earning the veteran’s minimum in 2025/26.

Either Dinwiddie or Plumlee could theoretically be cut this fall, but it would be a little strange to sign a player to a guaranteed deal only to release him before he suits up for a regular season contest. It’s certainly an option, especially if one gets hurt, but it seems fairly unlikely right now.

By process of elimination, that likely leaves four players — Connaughton, Smith, Jeffries and Diabate — essentially vying for the 15th and final roster spot.

Of the four, Jeffries seems like the most obvious candidate to be waived. He was sent to Charlotte last October as part of the Karl-Anthony Towns trade, and while he appeared in 47 games last season, he wasn’t a major contributor. The five-year veteran is on a fully non-guaranteed contract, so the Hornets won’t incur a cap hit if they release him.

Despite earning $9.42MM in 2025/26, Connaughton also seems pretty likely to be cut. Perhaps I’m wrong and Charlotte will keep his expiring contract to use for salary-matching purposes in a future trade, but he has negative value on that deal after his career was derailed by injuries the past few years. When they sent Vasilije Micic to the Bucks for Connaughton in July, the Hornets acquired two second-round picks in the deal — it seems safe to assume they made the trade for the draft assets, not for Connaughton himself.

That leaves Smith and Diabate. Smith is just two years removed from being selected in the first round of the 2023 draft, but he hasn’t taken a major step forward since entering the NBA, having made exactly 39.1% of his field goal attempts in both of his professional seasons. He played a more significant role last season, but the Hornets were outscored by 14.3 points per 100 possessions when he was on the court, compared to 6.3 points per 100 possessions when he wasn’t playing.

Smith also has a backcourt logjam working against him, while Diabate should benefit from the fact that the Hornets don’t have many viable options in the middle — Plumlee and Kalkbrenner are the only other centers on the roster, so Diabate could actually play rotation minutes this fall, as he did last season, whereas the path to regular playing time for Smith would be more crowded with Miller and Mann back from injuries and Dinwiddie and Sexton now in the mix as well.

It’s worth reiterating that Smith’s salary for 2025/26 is guaranteed, but neither he nor Diabate is owed any guaranteed money beyond the coming season and Charlotte is operating way below the luxury tax line this season. In other words, eating some guaranteed money shouldn’t really affect the team’s flexibility.

Still, even if Jeffries, Connaughton, and Smith look like the most logical odd men out, it’s possible this situation won’t end up being quite that straightforward, so it’ll be worth keeping an eye on this fall.

Luke Adams contributed to this story.

Repost Share Send via email

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Houston Rockets

September 12th, 2025 at 8:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Houston Rockets.

Free agent signings

  • Dorian Finney-Smith: Four years, $52,705,000. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year player option (non-guaranteed if exercised). Trade kicker (3.232%). Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Fred VanVleet: Two years, $50,000,000. Second-year player option. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
  • Clint Capela: Three years, $21,105,000. Trade kicker (5%). Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Hawks.
  • Jeff Green: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
  • Aaron Holiday: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Josh Okogie: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Jae’Sean Tate: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception.
  • Cameron Matthews: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired the draft rights to Mojave King (from Pelicans), the Bulls’ 2026 second-round pick (from Wizards) and the Kings’ 2029 second-round pick (from Wizards) in a three-team trade in exchange for Cam Whitmore (to Wizards).
  • Acquired Kevin Durant (from Suns) and Clint Capela (sign-and-trade; from Hawks) in a seven-team trade in exchange for Jalen Green (to Suns), Dillon Brooks (to Suns), David Roddy (two-way; to Hawks), the draft rights to Khaman Maluach (No. 10 pick; to Suns), the draft rights to Jahmai Mashack (No. 59 pick; to Warriors), either the Thunder’s, Mavericks’, or Sixers’ 2026 second-round pick (whichever is second-most favorable; to Suns), either the Clippers’ 2026 second-round pick or the most favorable of the Celtics’, Pacers’, and Heat’s 2026 second-round picks (whichever is least favorable; to Nets), the Celtics’ 2030 second-round pick; to Nets), the right to swap 2031 second-round picks (56-60 protected; to Hawks), and cash ($85,300; to Hawks).

Draft picks

  • None

Two-way signings

  • Isaiah Crawford
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
  • JD Davison
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).
  • Kevon Harris
    • One year, $25,000 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

  • Signed Jabari Smith Jr. to a five-year, $122,000,000 rookie scale contract extension that begins in 2026/27.
  • Signed Steven Adams to a three-year, $39,000,000 veteran contract extension that begins in 2025/26.
  • Waived Jock Landale (non-guaranteed contract).
  • Waived Jeenathan Williams (non-guaranteed contract).

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $194.7MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
  • Portion of non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($1,404,000) available.
  • One traded player exception available ($3,539,760).

The offseason so far

While some blockbuster NBA trades come out of nowhere, there are also plenty that finally get done after weeks – or even months – of rumors and speculation linking a player to a specific team. Anthony Davis being traded to the Lakers falls into the latter category; the deal that eventually sent Davis out of Los Angeles obviously falls into the former group.

The trade that sent Kevin Durant from Phoenix to Houston is another example of one of those long-running rumors that eventually came to fruition. When word broke that Durant was being dealt to Houston, it didn’t come as a shock like February’s Davis/Luka Doncic mega-deal did, because it just made so much sense.

Durant, who was said to be caught off-guard when the Suns discussed him in trade talks at the deadline, was long expected to seek an offseason trade, while the Rockets, armed with the young players and draft picks necessary to get a deal done, had just shown in their postseason loss to Golden State that they badly needed an infusion of offensive firepower.

Durant, even as he enters his age-37 season, is capable of providing just that, having continued to produce at an All-NBA level last season (26.6 points per game on .527/.430/.839 shooting). While he’s no longer the defensive force he was during his prime years, the Rockets will be happy if the 15-time All-Star continues to put up his typical scoring numbers and gives head coach Ime Udoka a reliable bucket-getter who can create his own shot in clutch situations.

The Durant deal between the Suns and Rockets eventually turned into a seven-team monstrosity that folded several separate trade agreements into a single transaction, but there were essentially three crucial outgoing pieces from Houston’s perspective in the Durant portion of the trade: Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, and this year’s No. 10 overall pick.

Green’s three-year extension, which begins this year, was practically designed to make him a trade chip. And when he struggled in his first playoff series, scoring no more than 12 points in six of seven games, it sealed his fate. Green will be given an opportunity in Phoenix to make another leap, but the Rockets – eager to take a step toward title contention right now – couldn’t afford to wait to see whether or not that would happen.

Giving up this year’s No. 10 pick also wasn’t a major sacrifice for the Rockets, who had the No. 3 pick a year earlier and ended up barely utilizing the player they selected with it (Reed Sheppard). If Houston had kept its 2025 first-rounder, it would’ve been a tall order for the team’s latest lottery selection to crack the rotation anytime soon.

Of those outgoing pieces, Brooks actually might be the one the Rockets miss the most in the short term. A locker-room leader and a tenacious defender, the forward played an important role in Houston, and the club is unlikely to ask Durant to take on the same defensive assignments that Brooks handled. As a result, going out in free agency and landing another defensive-minded wing capable of guarding high-level perimeter scorers was a priority for the front office.

That search eventually landed with a four-year, $52.7MM commitment to Dorian Finney-Smith that is more team-friendly than it initially looked. Only the first two years of Finney-Smith’s new contract are guaranteed, giving Houston some flexibility to get out of the deal in a year or two if things don’t work out. Still, based on how Finney-Smith helped transform the Lakers’ defense last winter after a mid-season trade sent him from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, there’s no reason to think the wing won’t be an asset for the Rockets.

Houston also used the minimum salary exception to add Josh Okogie, another versatile wing who will give the team energy and defense off the bench.

Having brought back several players from last season’s roster on more team-friendly deals – Fred VanVleet took a pay cut to $25MM, while Aaron Holiday and Jae’Sean Tate re-signed for the minimum – the Rockets still had a little financial flexibility below a first-apron hard cap after agreeing to trade for Durant and striking a deal with Finney-Smith.

Interestingly, Houston used that remaining flexibility below the first apron to acquire Clint Capela via sign-and-trade, incorporating that agreement with Atlanta into the super-sized Durant deal so as not to send out any additional salary.

It was a curious move for a team that already has Alperen Sengun and newly extended backup center Steven Adams in the middle, but after having success with lineups that featured both Sengun and Adams down the stretch last season, the team seems prepared to continue leaning into those bigger looks going forward. Having Capela in the mix as well will give the Rockets more reliable depth up front and more flexibility to mix and match those two-big units.

The Rockets’ other two major transactions of the summer featured first-round picks from 2022 and 2023: the team doubled down on its investment in 2022’s No. 3 overall pick, Jabari Smith Jr., by signing him to a five-year, $122MM extension, but decided to move on from 2023 first-rounder Cam Whitmore, trading him to Washington for a pair of second-round picks.

Whitmore showed off some intriguing scoring upside during his first two NBA seasons, but Smith’s all-around game – including his stout defense – is a better fit for Houston’s roster and for Udoka’s philosophy. Smith’s numbers dipped a little in an injury-shortened 2024/25 season, but there’s reason to believe his game still has more room to grow — he just turned 22 years old in May.

Up next

The Rockets have an opening on their projected 15-man roster, but they don’t have enough room below their hard cap to actually sign a 15th man until January, so their standard roster looks set. Their three two-way contract slots have also been filled, which means their preseason signings and cuts figure to be about securing G League rights and lining up bonuses for Rio Grande Valley Vipers players.

Still, it won’t be a quiet October in Houston. The team has two big contract decisions to make, as both Durant (veteran) and Tari Eason (rookie scale) are eligible to sign extensions.

Since Durant is on an expiring contract, he’ll remain extension-eligible all season long, so there’s not necessarily an urgency to get something done with him before opening night, but it’s frankly a little surprising that the two sides don’t already have an agreement in place. When Durant was on the trade block, Houston was said to be one of the teams he’d be willing to sign an extension with, but the team has seemingly been in no rush to finalize a new contract.

Reports in August indicated that the two sides are still expected to work something out, but that the Rockets may be reluctant to give Durant a maximum-salary deal (roughly $119MM over two years). That would explain the delay and is an understandable position to take, given that a two-year extension would cover KD’s age-38 and -39 seasons.

I’d still expect Houston to put a lucrative offer on the table, but it will be interesting to see whether the team will be willing to guarantee more than one additional season beyond 2025/26. For the sake of comparison, when the Clippers re-signed James Harden in July, they gave him one guaranteed year (for age 36), with a partially guaranteed player option ($13.3MM of $42.3MM) on the second year.

Negotiations with Eason won’t be simple either, especially since the two sides face an October 20 deadline. If no deal is reached by that point, the fourth-year forward will head to restricted free agency in 2026.

Having lost Brooks, the Rockets will probably be relying on Eason to step up and play an increased role in 2025/26, and the 24-year-old has shown real promise as a three-and-D wing. But Houston’s roster is getting increasingly expensive and the team will also have to make a substantial investment in Amen Thompson when he becomes extension-eligible next summer.

The front office will have to be careful about how much it’s prepared to commit to Eason, a solid contributor with untapped potential who still probably isn’t one of the club’s five or six most important players.

Repost Share Send via email

Why So Many Players Will Be Signed-And-Waived Before Season

September 12th, 2025 at 10:51am CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have signed three free agents to their offseason roster this week. They’ve also waived those same three players, with Quincy Guerrier, Tyreke Key, and Jarkel Joiner each spending no more than a single day under contract with the team, despite the fact that training camp is still weeks away.

There will be dozens of this sort of “sign-and-waive” transaction completed in the next five-plus weeks before opening night — many of them will involve players who don’t have a realistic path to make their team’s regular season roster and won’t be under contract for more than a day or two.

While they may look pointless on the surface, these moves are meaningful to teams and players for a couple reasons. Here are the two reasons why you can count on seeing many more sign-and-trade moves in the coming weeks:

1. In order to secure a player’s G League rights

Up to four players waived by a team prior to the start of the NBA regular season can be designated as “affiliate players.” As we explain in more detail in our glossary entry on the subject, if a player designated as an affiliate player signs a G League contract, he’s automatically assigned to that team’s NBAGL squad.

A player can only be made an affiliate player if his returning rights aren’t already controlled by a G League team. That’s why our annual list of affiliate players around the league consists mostly of undrafted rookies and a few veterans who have never played in the NBAGL before.

If a player has only ever been assigned to the G League while on a standard or two-way contract with an NBA team, his returning rights aren’t controlled by that club. For example, if a team were to sign Emoni Bates to a training camp deal this fall, it could designate him as an affiliate player, since he has only played in the G League while on a two-way contract with the Cavaliers — that means the Cleveland Charge don’t control his returning rights.

Sign-and-waive transactions involving players meant to be designated as affiliate players often don’t occur until training camps begin, since a player is typically require to participate in at least one day of team activities in order to qualify as an affiliate player.

2. In order to award a player a bonus

Many of the players who are signed and immediately waived by an NBA team can’t be designated as affiliate players because their G League rights are already controlled by a specific club.

This applies to the three players signed-and-waived by the Raptors this week — Guerrier and Key played for the Raptors 905 last season, while Toronto’s affiliate made a trade last month to acquire Joiner’s returning rights. That means if Guerrier, Key, and Joiner sign G League contracts this fall, the 905 would control them as “returning rights” players and wouldn’t have to use one of their four “affiliate player” slots to retain them.

The Raptors didn’t need to sign Guerrier, Key, and Joiner to contracts to acquire their G League rights, but giving them non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deals will allow Toronto to award those players some bonus money on top of their standard G League base salaries.

A player who signs an Exhibit 10 contract and then is waived before the season will earn his Exhibit 10 bonus if he spends at least 60 days with his team’s G League affiliate. This season, the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus amount is $85,300. Since those bonuses don’t count against the cap, they serve as a way for teams to reward or incentivize a player who joins their G League affiliates instead of seeking another opportunity, perhaps overseas.

The majority of players who sign Exhibit 10 contracts are awarded the maximum allowable bonus ($85,300), but some G League role players will agree to receive bonuses that come in below that max. For example, Key – who averaged just 17.3 minutes per game during the NBAGL regular season in 2024/25 – agreed to a bonus worth just $35K, Hoops Rumors has learned.

Still, even a modest Exhibit 10 bonus represents a significant raise for a player who signs a G League contract. Shams Charania of ESPN reported in the fall of 2022 that the base NBAGL salary at that time was $40,500. It’s possible that figure has increased slightly since then, but it’s still just a small fraction of what a player would earn on a standard – or even a two-way – NBA contract. An Exhibit 10 bonus could double or even triple a G League player’s earnings for that season.

It’s worth noting that if the Raptors hadn’t acquired Joiner’s returning rights from the Hawks’ G League affiliate, they wouldn’t be in position to carry him on the 905’s roster or give him an Exhibit 10 bonus. If an NBA team signs and waives a player whose NBAGL rights are held by another organization, it’s generally a safe bet that a G League trade to acquire that player’s returning rights is in the works.

While only some of the many sign-and-waive transactions that occur between now and the start of the regular season are about acquiring a player’s NBAGL rights, nearly all of them will involve lining up some bonus money for a player ticketed for the G League.

Repost Share Send via email

Highest-Paid NBA Players By Team

September 12th, 2025 at 9:45am CST by Luke Adams

On Tuesday, we listed the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2025/26 season. Although that list presented a clear picture of the highest earners for the current season, not every NBA team was represented. Two of the league’s 30 franchises – the Trail Blazers and Bulls – didn’t have a single player in the top 50.

Our list of highest-paid players for 2025/26 also only provided a snapshot for this year. For example, Wizards forward Khris Middleton, who cracked the top 50, will certainly be well compensated for the coming season, but he’s on an expiring contract and will fall off that list next year after reaching free agency.

Today, we’re shifting our focus to the highest-paid players by team. This will allow us to check in on the clubs that weren’t represented on our initial list, as well as identifying some of the league’s most lucrative multiyear commitments — we’ve included each club’s highest-paid player for the current season (by 2025/26 base salary) and its highest-paid player in total (by total guaranteed base salary, including player options but not team options).

Let’s dive in…

Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics

  • 2025/26: Jayson Tatum ($54,126,450)
  • Total: Jayson Tatum (five years, $313,933,410)
    • Note: Tatum’s final year is a player option.

Brooklyn Nets

  • 2025/26: Michael Porter Jr. ($38,333,050)
  • Total: Michael Porter Jr. (two years, $79,139,200)

Charlotte Hornets

  • 2025/26: LaMelo Ball ($37,958,760)
  • Total: LaMelo Ball (four years, $168,705,600)

Chicago Bulls

  • 2025/26: Josh Giddey (exact amount TBD)
  • Total: Josh Giddey (four years, $100,000,000)
  • Note: Giddey’s new four-year, $100MM contract with the Bulls will make him the team’s highest-paid player (both this season and overall), but the deal isn’t yet official and the exact terms aren’t yet known.

Cleveland Cavaliers

Dallas Mavericks

  • 2025/26: Anthony Davis ($54,126,450)
  • Total: Anthony Davis (three years, $175,369,698)

Denver Nuggets

Detroit Pistons

  • 2025/26: Cade Cunningham ($46,394,100)
  • Total: Cade Cunningham (five years, $269,085,780)

Golden State Warriors

  • 2025/26: Stephen Curry ($59,606,817)
  • Total: Stephen Curry (two years, $122,193,975)

Read more

Repost Share Send via email

2027 NBA Free Agents

September 11th, 2025 at 9:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors’ up-to-date list of 2027 free agents is below. These are players who are eligible for restricted or unrestricted free agency after the 2026/27 season. The player’s 2027 age is in parentheses.

Players who are currently free agents or who are on our 2026 free agent list are not seen here. Players who have team or player options for the 2026/27 season aren’t listed below, but will be added to this list eventually if they remain on their current contracts.

Players with team or player options for the 2027/28 season are listed below, unless they’re still on their rookie scale contracts.

This list will be continually updated. You’ll be able to access it anytime under the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right sidebar on our desktop site, or in the “Free Agent Lists” section of our mobile menu. If you have any corrections or omissions, please contact us.

Updated 12-10-25 (8:50 am CT)

Unrestricted Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Restricted Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Player Options

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Team Options

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Two-Way Free Agents

Point Guards

Shooting Guards

Small Forwards

Power Forwards

Centers

Repost Share Send via email

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Cleveland Cavaliers

September 10th, 2025 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Free agent signings

  • Sam Merrill: Four years, $38,000,000. Re-signed using Bird rights.
  • Larry Nance Jr.: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Draft picks

  • 2-49: Tyrese Proctor
    • Signed to four-year, $8,685,386 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year partially guaranteed ($500K). Fourth-year team option.
  • 2-58: Saliou Niang
    • Will play overseas.

Two-way signings

  • Luke Travers
    • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee (will increase to $318,218 at start of regular season).

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

  • None

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $226.3MM in salary.
  • No hard cap.
  • One traded player exception frozen ($8,500,000).
  • One traded player exception available ($1,000,000).

The offseason so far

When the Cavaliers fell to Indiana in the second round of the playoffs this spring, it was a gut punch for a couple reasons. First and foremost, it was an incredibly disappointing way to end what had been one of the best years in team history up until that point. Only the 2008/09 Cavs – propelled by an MVP season from an in-his-prime LeBron James – racked up more regular season victories than the 64 last season’s club won.

It was also a discouraging outcome because it happened right before the Cavs’ roster was set to get significantly more expensive. Cleveland managed to duck below the luxury tax line at February’s deadline, but even without re-signing any key free agents, the team’s salary for 2025/26 was set to enter second-apron territory.

After the Suns, Celtics, and Timberwolves got a first-hand look last season at the impact of operating in the second tax apron, those teams were all in the process of moving below that threshold this summer. Would the Cavs really be willing to go deeper into the second apron in order to re-sign guys who played key roles for the 2024/25 squad, such as Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill?

As it turns out, the answer was yes — to a point. The Cavs didn’t hesitate to negotiate a new multiyear deal with Merrill, who established himself as one of the club’s best shooters and whose defense has improved significantly since he entered the league. The two sides reached an agreement on a four-year, $38MM contract two days before the league-wide free agent period opened, keeping Merrill off the market.

While that contract is fully guaranteed, it’s only worth about 5.5% of the cap in year one and will remain in that neighborhood over the next four years. It’s a fair deal for a rotation player who figures to average 20-plus minutes per game and who won’t be played off the floor in the postseason — as a point of comparison, another Eastern Conference wing who plays a similar role, Boston’s Sam Hauser, will be paid $45MM over the same four-year period.

Although Cleveland made Merrill a priority, the front office didn’t do the same for Jerome, whose breakout year earned him a third-place finish in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

As good as Jerome was, he was exposed defensively in the playoffs, and the Cavs likely didn’t feel the need to invest heavily in another offense-first guard while already paying big bucks to Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland — especially since doing so would have cost them exponentially more in tax penalties. After agreeing to a three-year, $27.7MM deal with the Grizzlies, Jerome suggested in a social media post that he was “never presented with the option of returning” to Cleveland.

Like the decision to pass on Jerome, the other Cavaliers’ moves were made with financial considerations in mind. That includes their straight-up trade of Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball. Okoro ($11MM) will only earn slightly more in 2025/26 than Ball ($10MM), but Okoro’s contract is guaranteed through the 2026/27 season, while the Cavs will hold a team option for Ball in ’26/27, giving them some extra financial flexibility.

Of course, swapping a wing for a point guard also made sense from a roster construction standpoint after having re-signed Merrill and not Jerome.

Although Ball returned last season from a two-and-a-half-year injury absence related to recurring knee problems, he still wasn’t exactly a paragon of health, having appeared in just 35 games. If he can bump that number to at least 50-60 appearances in 2025/26, it would be a major boon for the Cavs, since Ball has a knack for making his team better even when his box-score numbers don’t look all that impressive.

The Cavs used one of their second-round picks to select former Duke guard Tyrese Proctor and sign him to a multiyear contract that starts at the rookie minimum. The gap between cap hits for a rookie minimum salary ($1,272,870) and a veteran minimum salary ($2,296,274) isn’t massive, but when a team is as deep into luxury tax territory as Cleveland is, the savings represent far more than that modest difference suggests.

Proctor spent three years with the Blue Devils and should be more NBA-ready than a one-and-done prospect, but he’s still just 21 years old and may not be prepared to contribute right away. That would probably be OK with the Cavs, who figure to focus on developing Proctor’s game in the hopes that he’ll be ready to take on a more regular rotation role in a year or two.

Finally, the Cavs added some much-needed frontcourt depth by reuniting with Larry Nance Jr. on a minimum-salary agreement. Nance, who was in Cleveland for three-and-a-half seasons from 2018-21, averaged 27.6 minutes per game during his first stint with the organization. This time around, he’ll likely be asked to play a more modest role behind big men Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, but – as long as he’s healthy – he’ll be a solid insurance option up front in the event of an injury to either of those players.

Up next

Although injuries to Garland (toe) and Max Strus (foot) are expected to sideline them for the start of the regular season, the Cavs seem unlikely to carry a full 15-man roster due to luxury tax concerns. However, they’ll need to get to at least 14 players on standard contracts, which will require adding one more player at some point in the next month or two.

Despite being limited to minimum-salary offers for veteran free agents, the Cavs have no shortage of options for that 14th spot. If they want to add one more ball-handling guard for depth purposes due to health concerns about Garland and/or Ball, a player like Malcolm Brogdon or Cameron Payne would make sense.

With Strus expected to miss an extended period, one more wing would be a logical choice too — someone like Garrison Mathews, Landry Shamet, or Gary Payton II could fit that bill. Cleveland has also been linked to Malik Beasley, though he remains under investigation by the NBA, and it’s unclear if one of the league’s best sharpshooters will have to settle for the veteran’s minimum.

The Cavs could even target one more big man to further fortify their frontcourt behind Allen and Mobley, given that Nance is coming off a season-ending knee issue. Precious Achiuwa and Thomas Bryant are among the vets still out there.

Whichever direction they go, I’d like to see the Cavs use that spot on a player who can actually contribute rather than a locker-room leader who won’t see any action — with Garland and Strus already recovering from major injuries, Cleveland isn’t in position to throw away a valuable opportunity to add more playable depth.

The Cavaliers also have one open two-way slot to fill alongside Nae’Qwan Tomlin and Luke Travers. The path they take with their standard roster spot could dictate what position they want to address with that final two-way opening.

Finally, it’s worth noting that several key Cleveland players – Garland, Strus De’Andre Hunter, and Dean Wade – will be eligible for extensions during the preseason. However, Garland, Strus, and Hunter all have multiple guaranteed years left on their current contracts and Wade has been mentioned as a potential trade candidate in the event that the Cavs want to try to reduce their tax bill.

I’d be a little surprised if any of those four players signs an extension before the regular season begins, given Cleveland’s cap situation. The team, which is carrying the NBA’s most expensive roster in 2025/26, probably isn’t eager to lock in more long-term money earlier than it needs to.

Repost Share Send via email

NBA’s Top 50 Highest-Paid Players For 2025/26

September 9th, 2025 at 10:20am CST by Luke Adams

Many of the NBA’s highest-paid players are on contracts considered maximum-salary deals, but the 2025/26 salaries for those players vary significantly depending on when the player signed his contract and how much NBA experience he has. That’s why a player like Stephen Curry will earn nearly $22MM more than LaMelo Ball in ’25/26 despite both players technically being on max deals.

When a player signs a maximum-salary contract, he doesn’t necessarily earn the NBA max for each season of that contract — he earns the max in year one, then gets a series of identical annual raises. In Curry’s case, his 2025/26 salary actually exceeds this year’s maximum, since the annual cap increases since he began earning the max haven’t kept pace with his annual 8% raises.

Listed below are the top 50 highest-paid NBA players for the 2025/26 season. The players on this list don’t necessarily have the contracts with the largest overall value. This top 50 only considers the current league year, with the player’s ’25/26 base salary listed.

Additionally, we’ve noted players who could potentially increase their earnings via incentives or trade bonuses. We didn’t add those notes for players like Curry or Anthony Edwards, who have trade bonuses but are already earning their maximum — their salaries for this season can’t increase beyond their max.

Here are the NBA’s 50 highest-paid players for the 2025/26 season:

  1. Stephen Curry, Warriors: $59,606,817
  2. Joel Embiid, Sixers: $55,224,526
    Nikola Jokic, Nuggets: $55,224,526
  3. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks: $54,126,450
    Jimmy Butler, Warriors: $54,126,450
    Anthony Davis, Mavericks: $54,126,450
    Jayson Tatum, Celtics: $54,126,450
  4. Kevin Durant, Rockets: $53,282,608
    • Durant can earn another $1,426,001 in likely incentives.
  5. Devin Booker, Suns: $53,142,264 (10% trade kicker)
    Jaylen Brown, Celtics: $53,142,264
    Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks: $53,142,264
  6. LeBron James, Lakers: $52,627,153 (15% trade kicker)
  7. Paul George, Sixers: $51,666,090 (15% trade kicker)
  8. Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: $50,000,000 (15% trade kicker)
  9. Zach LaVine, Kings: $47,499,660
  10. Cade Cunningham, Pistons: $46,394,100
    Lauri Markkanen, Jazz: $46,394,100
    Donovan Mitchell, Cavaliers: $46,394,100
    Evan Mobley, Cavaliers: $46,394,100
    Jamal Murray, Nuggets: $46,394,100
  11. Luka Doncic, Lakers: $45,999,660
    Trae Young, Hawks: $45,999,660 (15% trade kicker)
  12. Anthony Edwards, Timberwolves: $45,550,512
    Tyrese Haliburton, Pacers: $45,550,512
    Pascal Siakam, Pacers: $45,550,512
  13. Domantas Sabonis, Kings: $42,336,000
    • Sabonis can earn another $2,600,000 in unlikely incentives.
  14. OG Anunoby, Knicks: $39,568,966 (15% trade kicker)
  15. Darius Garland, Cavaliers: $39,446,090 (15% trade kicker)
    Ja Morant, Grizzlies: $39,446,090 (15% trade kicker)
    Zion Williamson, Pelicans: $39,446,090
  16. James Harden, Clippers: $39,182,693 (15% trade kicker)
  17. Scottie Barnes, Raptors: $38,661,750
    Franz Wagner, Magic: $38,661,750
  18. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Thunder: $38,333,050 (15% trade kicker)
    Michael Porter Jr., Nets: $38,333,050
  19. Brandon Ingram, Raptors: $38,095,238
  20. LaMelo Ball, Hornets: $37,958,760 (15% trade kicker)
    Tyrese Maxey, Sixers: $37,958,760
  21. Bam Adebayo, Heat: $37,096,620
    De’Aaron Fox, Spurs: $37,096,620
  22. Desmond Bane, Magic: $36,725,670
    • Bane can earn another $1,233,090 in unlikely incentives.
  23. Kyrie Irving, Mavericks: $36,566,002 (15% trade kicker)
  24. Rudy Gobert, Timberwolves: $35,000,000 (7.5% trade kicker)
    Jaren Jackson Jr., Grizzlies: $35,000,000
    Jalen Suggs, Magic: $35,000,000
  25. Jalen Brunson, Knicks: $34,944,001 (15% trade kicker)
  26. Alperen Sengun, Rockets: $33,944,954
  27. Jalen Green, Suns: $33,584,499
  28. Khris Middleton, Wizards: $33,296,296
    • Middleton can earn another $3,222,221 in unlikely incentives.
  29. Immanuel Quickley, Raptors: $32,500,000
    • Quickley can earn another $2,500,000 in unlikely incentives.

For the first time in NBA history, a base salary above $30MM is required to earn a spot on the league’s list of the top 50 highest-paid players, and even that isn’t quite enough for a few players. A pair of Trail Blazers veterans – Jrue Holiday at $32.4MM and Jerami Grant at $32MM – are the top two highest-paid players who didn’t make the cut.

It’s also worth noting that a small handful of players who just missed the top 50 have the ability to earn more than Quickley’s $32.5MM base salary if they achieve certain performance incentives during the coming season. Those players are as follows:

  • Jordan Poole, Pelicans: $31,848,215
    • Poole can earn another $3,750,000 in unlikely incentives.
  • Tyler Herro, Heat: $31,000,000
    • Herro can earn another $2,500,000 in unlikely incentives.
  • Dejounte Murray, Pelicans: $26,783,568
    • Murray earned an additional $4,017,535 for 2025/26 via a trade bonus on top of his base salary; he can also earn another $2,267,997 in unlikely incentives.
Repost Share Send via email

Players Currently Affected By Trade Restrictions

September 8th, 2025 at 9:34am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has no shortage of rules affecting which players can and can’t be traded at any given time, which complicates our understanding of which players are actually moveable. That’s especially true leading up to the regular season, when players who recently signed free agent contracts, extensions, and rookie contracts all face different sets of trade restrictions.

In an effort to clear things up, we’re looking today at which players around the NBA are currently affected by trade restrictions of one kind or another. Let’s dive in…

Recently signed free agents

In most cases, a free agent who signed a contract in the offseason is ineligible to be traded until December 15.

Currently, our list of players who will become trade-eligible on December 15 features 80 names, including several of the guys who signed the biggest free agent contracts of the summer, such as Kyrie Irving, Myles Turner, and Julius Randle.

But the list is technically even longer than that, since we haven’t included players who signed non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 and/or Exhibit 10 contracts. Most of those players will be waived by opening night, but if they earn spots on regular season rosters, the December 15 trade restriction would apply to them as well.

A free agent who signs after September 15 won’t become trade-eligible until three months after his signing date.

Any player who has his two-way contract converted to a standard deal during the offseason also doesn’t become trade-eligible until December 15 or until three months after the move, whichever comes later. However, no players were promoted from two-way contracts to standard deals this summer. All the players who finished last season on two-ways either became free agents on July 1, were waived, or are still on their previous contracts.

A select group of players who signed free agent contracts this offseason won’t become trade-eligible until January 15. These eight 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 of at least 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.

That group includes Naz Reid, Santi Aldama, and Sam Merrill, among others, and may end up featuring a few more current free agents, such as Josh Giddey, Quentin Grimes, and Jonathan Kuminga.

The above rules apply to players who sign standard contracts, not two-way deals. A player who signs a two-way contract is ineligible to be traded for 30 days. There are currently five players to whom this restriction applies, including Olivier-Maxence Prosper, who signed with the Grizzlies on September 4 and won’t become trade-eligible until October 4.

Two-way players are rarely traded, but it happens every now and then, like when RJ Luis was sent from Utah to Boston in last month’s Georges Niang deal.

Recently signed draft picks

Like a player who signs a two-way contract, a draftee who signs his first NBA contract is ineligible to be traded for 30 days. Currently, this restriction only impacts two players: Celtics second-rounder Amari Williams, who signed on August 15, and Jazz second-rounder John Tonje, who signed on August 26. They’ll become trade-eligible on September 14 and September 25, respectively.

The rest of this year’s draftees can currently be traded.

That list of tradable 2025 draftees includes all the players besides Williams and Tonje who have signed, since more than 30 days have passed since their officially completed their deals.

It also includes the two players who remain unsigned – including Warriors second-rounders Alex Toohey and Will Richard – since their draft rights can be traded until they sign their contract. If Toohey and Richard officially sign NBA contracts for 2025/26, they’ll become trade-ineligible for 30 days.

Players with veto ability

Lakers forward LeBron James and Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard are the only NBA players who have genuine no-trade clauses in their contracts, but several other players have the ability to veto trades this season due to various quirks of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Clippers guard James Harden, Rockets guard Fred VanVleet, Nets guard Cam Thomas, and Magic big man Moritz Wagner are some of the notable players whose consent will be required to trade them during the 2025/26 season.

Under the current CBA, a player who would normally meet the no-trade criteria due to re-signing with his current team on a one-year contract (or a two-year deal with a second-year option) can opt to waive his right to veto a trade.

At least a dozen players have done so this season so far, including Bucks guard Kevin Porter Jr., Lakers center Jaxson Hayes, and Mavericks guard Dante Exum, so once they become trade-eligible (on either December 15 or January 15), they can be moved without any issue.

Players who have signed veteran extensions

A player who signs a rookie scale extension becomes more difficult to trade due to the “poison pill provision,” but he could theoretically be moved immediately.

That’s not necessarily the case for a player who signs a veteran contract extension. A player who signs a veteran extension becomes ineligible to be traded for the next six months if he meets any of the following criteria:

  • His extension locks him up for more than four total years (including his current contract).
  • The extension includes a first-year bump of more than 20% (or more than 20% above the NBA’s estimated average salary, if his previous salary is below that average).
  • His extension includes an annual increase or decrease exceeding 5% anytime after the first year of the deal.

With the help of our extension trackers, here are the players currently affected by that rule, along with the dates they’ll become trade-eligible:

Since the trade deadline will land on February 5, a player who finalizes an extension between now and then (such as Mavericks forward P.J. Washington) wouldn’t become trade-eligible until the 2026 offseason.

Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford also signed an extension this offseason, but his deal didn’t exceed four total years, include a first-year bump exceeding 20%, or feature any subsequent annual raises greater than 5%, meaning he remains eligible to be traded.

Players who have signed Designated Veteran extensions

A Designated Veteran contract is also known as a “super-max” deal — it’s a maximum-salary contract that starts at 35% of the cap instead of 30% because the player has met certain performance criteria before achieving 10 years of NBA service.

A player who signs a Designated Veteran contract or extension can’t be traded for one full year after his signing date.

Only one player has signed a super-max contract this offeason: Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He’ll become trade-eligible on July 7, 2026, the one-year anniversary of his signing.

Players affected by aggregation restrictions

When a team trades for a player via salary-matching or using an exception (ie. not by absorbing the player into cap room), that team can’t “aggregate” the player in another trade for two months. Aggregating a player means combining his salary with another player’s for matching purposes.

The majority of the trades made this offseason so far were completed in June or early July, at least two months ago, so this restriction only applies to a handful of players at the moment. Here are those players, along with the dates when they’ll become aggregation-eligible:

Any player who is traded this season after December 16 (without being acquired via cap room) won’t be eligible to be flipped prior to the trade deadline in a second deal that aggregates his salary with another player’s.

This aggregation restriction also applies indefinitely to any player on a team who is operating over the second tax apron. Currently, only the Cavaliers fit that bill.

Repost Share Send via email
Load More Posts