Trade Deadline Primer

Months of speculation around the NBA will culminate this week. The trade deadline is just three days away, and teams are gearing up for one of the busiest days on the NBA calendar. Hoops Rumors has prepared several resources to guide you as we count down the hours until 2:00pm Central on Thursday:

• We’ve profiled a number of players we consider to be trade candidates, including Kyle Lowry, Danny Granger and Thaddeus Young. You can find all those pieces linked right here.
• Not every NBA player is eligible to be traded this week. We listed the players ineligible to be dealt, and also rounded up the guys who have the ability to veto trades.
• A number of traded player exceptions are set to expire at the deadline. The list of expiring exceptions is here, while the complete list of outstanding trade exceptions is here. If you’re unclear on how exactly these exceptions work, you can read our glossary entry.
• Players on expiring contracts are generally more likely to be moved than guys with another year or two left on their deals. Our list of 2014/15 free agents includes all the players currently on expiring contracts, plus those who have some form of option for next season.
• Some players will receive a bonus if they’re traded, and that could complicate potential deals. Our list of players with trade kickers includes nearly three dozen names.
• Future first-round draft picks are precious commodities this time of year, but several teams are without first-rounders they can trade for 2014 and beyond.
• Given the possibility that a few first-round picks could change hands this week, be sure to keep tabs on our tentative 2014 draft order to see where those draft picks might land.
• If you’re looking to keep up with rumors on a particular player, check out our instructions on how to follow specific players on Hoops Rumors.