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Community Shootaround: Lauri Markkanen

August 21st, 2021 at 11:58am CST by Dana Gauruder

Most of the prominent free agents this summer have already been signed, but restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen remains in limbo.

The Bulls forward has been seeking a big offer sheet but that hasn’t come to fruition. With most teams having already eaten up their cap space, it’s unlikely to occur.

Markkanen could still be part of a sign-and-trade but there are complications. Teams such as the Pelicans, Mavericks, Timberwolves and Celtics have been mentioned as potential destinations with the first two having the most interest.

The NBA’s investigation into the Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade makes it unlikely Chicago would pursue another sign-and-trade until the league completes its probe. The Bulls are also reportedly driving a hard bargain. They want a first-round pick in return and don’t want to take on a long-term contract. Some of Markkanen’s reported suitors can absorb his contract in a traded player exception, depending upon the starting salary Markkanen would accept.

The main alternative for Markkanen would be to sign his $9MM qualifying offer, which would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Markkanen would likely be a second-unit player behind 2020 lottery pick Patrick Williams if he returns to Chicago.

This leads to our question of the day: Where do you think restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen will wind up this coming season?

Please take to the comments section to voice your opinion. We look forward to your input.

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How Teams Are Using 2021/22 Mid-Level Exceptions

August 20th, 2021 at 4:41pm CST by Luke Adams

In addition to receiving approximately $112.4MM in cap room and being allowed to surpass that threshold in order to sign players using Bird Rights or the minimum salary exception, each NBA team also receives a mid-level exception. The value of this exception varies depending on a club’s total team salary.

A team that goes under the cap to use its available cap room, for instance, receives only a modest form of the MLE known as the room exception. An over-the-cap team receives the full mid-level exception, unless that team is also over the tax apron, in which case it gets a taxpayer version of the MLE that falls in between the full MLE and the room exception. We detailed the exact values of each form of mid-level exception earlier this offseason, but here’s a quick breakdown:

  • Room exception: Can be used for contracts up to two years, with a starting salary worth up to $4,910,000.
  • Taxpayer mid-level exception: Can be used for contracts up to three years, with a starting salary worth up to $5,890,000.
  • Full/non-taxpayer mid-level exception: Can be used for contracts up to four years, with a starting salary worth up to $9,536,000.
    • Note: Though its name suggests otherwise, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception doesn’t mean a team can’t or won’t be above the tax line ($136,606,000) at season’s end; it simply means the team’s total salary can’t surpass the tax “apron” ($143,002,000).

Now that nearly all of the NBA’s teams have used up their cap space, it’s worth keeping an eye on which teams still have part or all of their mid-level exceptions available, which we’ll do in the space below. This list will be kept up to date throughout the 2021/22 league year.

Note: As of January 10, the value of the exceptions below began to prorate downward by 1/174th per day, based on the amount of the exception on Jan. 10. For instance, if a team had $1MM of its exception left on Jan. 10, it declines in value by $5,747 per day for the rest of the season.

Here’s where things currently stand:

Mid-Level Exception:

Non-taxpayer: $9,536,000
Taxpayer: $5,890,000

Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

  • Used: $5,890,000 (Patty Mills)
  • Note: Limited to taxpayer mid-level exception.

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets

Golden State Warriors

  • Used: $0
  • Note: Limited to taxpayer mid-level exception.

Houston Rockets

Indiana Pacers

Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers

  • Used: $5,000,000 (Kendrick Nunn)
  • Note: Limited to taxpayer mid-level exception.

Miami Heat

Milwaukee Bucks

Minnesota Timberwolves

  • Used: $0

New Orleans Pelicans

Oklahoma City Thunder

Orlando Magic

Philadelphia 76ers

  • Used: $3,300,000 (Georges Niang); $925,258 (Charles Bassey)
  • Note: The Sixers could technically use more than taxpayer portion of mid-level exception, but are in the tax and likely won’t.

Phoenix Suns

Portland Trail Blazers

Sacramento Kings

Toronto Raptors

Utah Jazz

  • Used: $5,890,000 (Rudy Gay)
  • Note: Limited to taxpayer mid-level exception.

Washington Wizards

Room Exception:

Available: $4,910,000

Charlotte Hornets

Detroit Pistons

Memphis Grizzlies

New York Knicks

San Antonio Spurs

Salary information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac was used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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2021/22 NBA Draft-And-Stash Signings

August 19th, 2021 at 12:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent signees, trade acquisitions, and 2021 draftees have been the most common additions to NBA rosters in recent weeks. However, a small number of players come via the draft-and-stash route, as teams bring aboard players drafted in previous years.

First-round draftees from the last three years – such as Leandro Bolmaro of the Timberwolves – are limited to the 2021 rookie scale. Players who were previously selected in the second round of a draft – or who were first-round picks more than three years ago – are free to sign any type of contract via cap room or exceptions.

Listed below are the draft-and-stash prospects who have signed so far this offseason, with contract details noted. If and when more teams add draft-and-stash players, we’ll update this list, which can be found at anytime on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” or in the “Features” page in our mobile menu.

  • Chicago Bulls: Marko Simonovic, F/C (2020 draft; No. 44) (story)
    • Simonovic spent another season with Crvena Zvezda in Serbia after being selected in the second round of last year’s draft, but he was one of Arturas Karnisovas‘ first draft picks and the plan was always for him to come stateside at some point. The Bulls saved a portion of their mid-level exception for Simonovic to ensure they were able to give him a third non-guaranteed year on top of his two guaranteed seasons.
    • Contract: Three years, $4.32MM (minimum salary). First two years guaranteed.
  • Charlotte Hornets: Arnoldas Kulboka, F (2018 draft; No. 55) (story)
    • After being drafted in 2018, Kulboka remained with Brose Bamberg, his team in Germany, for another year. He then joined Bilbao in Spain for the next two seasons before coming stateside for the 2021/22 campaign. The 23-year-old will start his NBA career on a two-way deal, so he’ll be limited to 50 games at the NBA level this season unless he’s promoted to the 15-man roster.
    • Contract: Two-way contract.
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: Vit Krejci, G (2020 draft; No. 37) (story)
    • Krejci was still recovering from a knee injury when the Thunder acquired him in the 2020 draft, so he spent the season with the Oklahoma City Blue in the G League rehabbing that injury. A year later, the 21-year-old has officially signed his first NBA contract with the Thunder.
    • Contract: Four years, $6.31MM (minimum salary). First year guaranteed. Second year partially guaranteed.
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: Leandro Bolmaro, G (2020 draft; No. 23) (story)
    • Bolmaro was stashed for a year in Spain after the Timberwolves used one of their 2020 first-round picks to nab him. He won a Liga ACB championship and a Spanish Cup title with Barcelona in 2021, and was named the ACB Most Spectacular Player, proving he was ready to make the leap to the NBA.
    • Contract: Four years, $11.81MM. First two years guaranteed. Third- and fourth-year team options.
  • Denver Nuggets: Petr Cornelie, F (2016 draft; No. 53) (story)
    • Cornelie played for Denver’s Summer League team several times after being selected in the 2016 draft, but didn’t actually make the move stateside until this season, when he filled one of the team’s two-way contract slots. He had spent the last eight years (from 2013-21) playing in his home country of France, including for Elan Bearnais in 2020/21.
    • Contract: Two-way contract.
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Trade Rumors App For iOS/Android

August 19th, 2021 at 11:50am CST by Luke Adams

If you enjoy Hoops Rumors on your smartphone or tablet, be sure to check out our free Trade Rumors app!

Trade Rumors, available for iOS and Android, is the best way to consume our content on a mobile device. Here’s what it delivers, all for free:

  • All the articles from Hoops Rumors, MLB Trade Rumors, Pro Football Rumors, and Pro Hockey Rumors in an easy-to-navigate, eye-catching format. Swipe through stories to quickly consume all the news and rumors from our four sites. Not into all four sports? No problem – any sport can be easily removed.
  • Customize what you see. You can create feeds for any team or player across any of our sites.
  • Notifications. For any team or player, you can set up push notifications to ensure you always get breaking news instantly. Notifications can also be set up at the sport level.
  • Commenting. You can read and contribute comments on the app seamlessly.
  • Customer service. If you find a bug, we’ll fix it. If you have a feature request, we’ll consider it. The app is continually evolving and improving.
  • Did we mention Trade Rumors is a free app? What do you have to lose? Download it now!
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Community Shootaround: Best, Worst Big-Money FA Deals

August 18th, 2021 at 6:00pm CST by Luke Adams

At least one 2021 NBA free agent who remains unsigned – Lauri Markkanen – is a candidate to receive an eight-figure annual salary this offseason, but it’s probably safe to assume that any deal Markkanen signs won’t crack this summer’s top 10 free agent contracts.

Based on information from our free agent tracker, there have been 10 free agent contracts signed this offseason that include at least $75MM in guaranteed money. They are as follows:

  1. Kawhi Leonard, Clippers: Four years, $176.27MM (fourth-year player option)
  2. John Collins, Hawks: Five years, $125MM (fifth-year player option)
  3. Jarrett Allen, Cavaliers: Five years, $100MM
  4. Norman Powell, Trail Blazers: Five years, $90MM
  5. Duncan Robinson, Heat: Five years, $90MM (fifth-year early termination option)
  6. Kyle Lowry, Heat: Three years, $85MM
  7. DeMar DeRozan, Bulls: Three years, $81.9MM
  8. Lonzo Ball, Bulls: Four years, $80MM (fourth-year player option)
  9. Chris Paul, Suns: Four years, $120MM ($75MM fully guaranteed)
  10. Tim Hardaway Jr., Mavericks: Four years, $75MM

While some teams come to regret their long-term, big-money free agent commitments within a couple years, several of these deals have the potential to age pretty well. Collins, Allen, and Ball, for instance, are all still just 23 years old, meaning they still have many prime years ahead of them and could even continue improving.

Signing a two-time NBA Finals MVP and a perennial All-NBA candidate like Leonard to a long-term contract is also rarely a bad move, even if it’s for maximum-salary money. However, it’s a riskier proposition when the player in question is recovering from ACL surgery and isn’t a lock to play at all during the first year of the deal. The Clippers are confident that Leonard will make a full recovery, but his health issues – both past and present – create some cause for concern.

Lowry and Paul earned significant guarantees, given their respective ages (35 and 36). The Suns, at least, will get some protection in the third and fourth years of Paul’s contract, but if they waive CP3 before his third year fully guarantees, they’d end up paying him $75MM for just two seasons.

Powell, Robinson, and Hardaway are all talented contributors, but they’re role players, not stars. If their production falls off at all, those deals could become onerous in their later years.

Finally, DeRozan is one of the league’s most talented mid-range scorers and has improved as a facilitator, but he doesn’t stretch the floor and is a below-average defender. A three-year deal worth $27MM per season is a significant price to pay for a Bulls team that also surrendered a first-round pick to acquire DeRozan via sign-and-trade.

We want to know what you think. Which of these big-money 2021 contracts would you feel most comfortable about having on your team? Which do you view as the riskiest or most misguided investment?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

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Checking In On Unsigned 2021 NBA Draft Picks

August 18th, 2021 at 3:12pm CST by Luke Adams

When Usman Garuba officially signed his rookie contract with Houston earlier this week, he became the 30th and final first-round pick from the 2021 draft to sign his first NBA deal. There will be no draft-and-stash players among this year’s first-rounders — they’re all now officially on NBA rosters.

As our tracker shows, another 23 second-rounders from this year’s draft class have also signed their first NBA contracts or – in Joe Wieskamp‘s case – agreed to a deal that should be officially completed soon.

That leaves just seven prospects from 2021’s 60-player draft class who have yet to be signed. They are as follows:

  1. New York Knicks: Rokas Jokubaitis, G, Lithuania
  2. Boston Celtics: Juhann Begarin, G, France
  3. Brooklyn Nets: Marcus Zegarowski, G, Creighton
  4. Philadelphia 76ers: Filip Petrusev, F, Serbia
  5. Philadelphia 76ers: Charles Bassey, C, Western Kentucky
  6. Detroit Pistons: Balsa Koprivica, C, Florida State
  7. Brooklyn Nets: RaiQuan Gray, F, Florida State

Of these seven players, at least three appear on track to spend the 2021/22 season in Europe. Jokubaitis returned to his team in Barcelona following his Summer League stint with the Knicks, while Petrusev signed with Turkish team Anadolu Efes after playing for the Sixers in Summer League. Begarin, who also played in Summer League for the Celtics, will likely end up heading back overseas to France

That leaves just four true unsigned second-round picks, including a pair of Nets. It will be interesting to see what Brooklyn’s plans are for Zegarowski and Gray. The team currently has 13 players on guaranteed contracts and one on a two-way deal, so there could conceivably be room for Zegarowski on the 15-man squad, with Gray getting the other two-way deal.

However, DeAndre’ Bembry has a partially guaranteed contract and looks like a good bet to make the Nets’ regular-season roster, and Reggie Perry (free agent) and David Duke (Exhibit 10) are among the other candidates to get a two-way deal from the team. It’s also not clear if Brooklyn intends to carry a full 15-man roster to start the season, since leaving a roster spot open would create major tax savings for the franchise.

I could envision a scenario in which Zegarowski signs a two-way contract and Gray signs a G League deal to play for the Long Island Nets, but that’s just my speculation. There are still a number of ways the Nets could go.

Meanwhile, prospects drafted in the 50s like Bassey (No. 53) and Koprivica (No. 57) are generally good candidates for two-way deals, but the Sixers and Pistons have recently filled both of their two-way openings. Perhaps Philadelphia envisions Bassey taking Anthony Tolliver‘s spot on the 15-man roster, since Tolliver is on a non-guaranteed contract.

It’ll be trickier for Detroit to find a roster spot for Koprivica. The Pistons already have 15 players on guaranteed contracts and still may re-sign restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo. Stashing Koprivica overseas or in the G League could be the plan. Koprivica was born and raised in Serbia, so he might be more comfortable spending a season overseas than a typical NCAA draftee would be.

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Community Shootaround: Christmas Day Games

August 17th, 2021 at 8:06pm CST by Eli Cohen

The NBA released its Opening Week and Christmas Day schedules today, giving the basketball world a fresh slate of rivalry games, star matchups and, of course, snubs to discuss.

Christmas Day is always a special time for the NBA. For years, players have confirmed the added intensity and hype from playing in such high-profile matchups. For fans, it offers rare five-game slate of non-stop action of some of the most exciting teams in the league.

This year, the December 25 schedule is as follows (times listed in ET):

  • 12:00pm: Hawks at Knicks
  • 2:30pm: Celtics at Bucks
  • 5:00pm: Warriors at Suns
  • 8:00pm: Nets at Lakers
  • 10:30pm: Mavericks at Jazz

There are a couple games here that stand out from an entertainment/ratings perspective.

What the Knicks-Hawks 2021 playoff series lacked in longevity it more than made up for in off-court fireworks, with Hawks star Trae Young and the Madison Square Garden crowd jawing back and forth at each other throughout the series, sometimes to an uncomfortable degree. The final image of the first-round matchup was Young taking a bow at center court after eliminating the Knicks from their first playoff appearance since 2013.

The NBA will be looking to play up this rivalry once more, especially as the Knicks have retooled, adding more shot-creators in Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier, partially in response to the team having its limitations exposed in said series.

Meanwhile, Nets-Lakers is set to be an absolute must-see game. The media circus surrounding the game will be unavoidable, as Kevin Durant and James Harden face off against former teammate Russell Westbrook and Kyrie Irving faces former teammate LeBron James.

On top of that, assuming health, the Nets and Lakers are the two favorites to win the championship, according to SportsBet.com, which means we could be witnessing a potential NBA Finals preview. Like with Warriors-CavaliersChristmas Day games of the past, what happens in this game will be used as a benchmark going forward as each team works toward their respective championship aspirations.

While the remaining games may not bring as much in terms of narrative, they each offer a fun and compelling matchup of star players who could also find themselves facing off in a playoff series: Giannis Antetokounmpo and the defending-champion Bucks against Jayson Tatum and the revamped Celtics, Luka Doncic and the Mavs against Donovan Mitchell and the Jazz, who had the best record in the league last year, and of course, two-time MVP Stephen Curry and the Warriors against the 2021 NBA Finalist Suns and Curry’s longtime rival Chris Paul.

The league is betting on the Warriors returning to form after two straight non-playoff seasons, facilitated by Klay Thompson‘s expected return to action, the additions of veterans Otto Porter and Nemanja Bjelica to shore up the bench rotations, and the improvement of young lottery picks James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.

But for all the star-studded games and renewed rivalries to enjoy, there are plenty of high-profile players and teams that we won’t be seeing. After appearing on 19 national TV games in the 2020/21 season, including Christmas, Zion Williamson and the Pelicans will not be making an appearance. Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball, and all of this year’s top-five picks are conspicuously absent, as is reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and his Nuggets. The Clippers, with Kawhi Leonard on the shelf, are out of sight, and Jimmy Butler‘s new-look Heat, Damian Lillard‘s Blazers, and Joel Embiid‘s Sixers will be watching from home like the rest of us.

Naturally not every team, and not every superstar, is able to play on Christmas. After all, the NBA is a star-studded league, with more talent flooding in every year, and there are only 10 slots to fill.

But we want to know what you think about this year’s Christmas Day schedule!

What games are you most excited about? Which game has the highest chance of being a dud? And most importantly, what team was the biggest snub from this year’s slate of action?

Take to the comments to let us know!

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2021/22 NBA Roster Counts

August 16th, 2021 at 10:41am CST by Luke Adams

Although NBA rosters are limited to 15 players during the regular season, teams are allowed to carry up to 20 players during the offseason. Expanded offseason rosters allow clubs to bring in players on contracts that aren’t fully guaranteed, giving those players a chance to earn a regular season roster spot or getting a closer look at them before sending them to their G League affiliate.

In addition to the usual 15-man rosters, NBA teams are permitted to carry two players on two-way contracts. Two-way deals, which we describe in detail in our glossary, essentially give clubs the NBA rights to two extra players, though they often spend much of the season in the G League rather than with the NBA team. While two-way players don’t count toward the 15-man regular season roster limit, they do count toward the 20-man offseason limit.

Over the course of the 2021 offseason and 2021/22 season, we’ll keep tabs on how many players are on each NBA team’s roster, breaking them down into a few groups. Here are the various categories you’ll find in our list:

  • Official: These players are officially under contract with a given team, on guaranteed deals.
  • Reported: These are players whose contract agreements have been reported but haven’t been made official. We’re expecting them to be finalized at some point, though it’s possible that some will fall through or were reported erroneously.
  • 10-day: These are players officially signed to 10-day contracts, along with the expiry date on those deals.
  • Two-way: These are players signed to two-way contracts. Unless otherwise noted, these deals are official. You can find a specific team’s two-way players right here.
  • Total: A team’s total roster count, taking into account all of the above.

Here are the NBA’s roster counts for 2021/22, which we’ll continue to update through the rest of the regular season:

Updated 4-10-22 (11:00pm CT)

Atlanta Hawks

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Boston Celtics

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Brooklyn Nets

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 1
  • Total: 16

Charlotte Hornets

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Chicago Bulls

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Cleveland Cavaliers

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Dallas Mavericks

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Denver Nuggets

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Detroit Pistons

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Golden State Warriors

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Houston Rockets

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Indiana Pacers

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Los Angeles Clippers

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Los Angeles Lakers

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Memphis Grizzlies

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Miami Heat

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Milwaukee Bucks

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Minnesota Timberwolves

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

New Orleans Pelicans

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

New York Knicks

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Oklahoma City Thunder

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Orlando Magic

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Philadelphia 76ers

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Phoenix Suns

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 1
  • Total: 16

Portland Trail Blazers

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Sacramento Kings

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 1
  • Total: 16

San Antonio Spurs

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Toronto Raptors

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17

Utah Jazz

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 1
  • Total: 16

Washington Wizards

  • Official: 15
  • Two-way: 2
  • Total: 17
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2021/22 Non-Guaranteed Contracts By NBA Team

August 16th, 2021 at 9:33am CST by Luke Adams

As the NBA regular season approaches and teams reduce their rosters from the 20-player offseason limit to the 15-man regular season max, the best way to determine which players will survive preseason cuts is to consider their contracts. Players with guaranteed salaries for 2021/22 are far more likely to earn spots on 15-man rosters than players whose contracts aren’t fully guaranteed.

Keeping that in mind, we’re using the space below to keep tabs on the players on each NBA team who don’t have fully guaranteed contracts, using information from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac, as well as our own data. The players listed here have non-guaranteed salaries, partially guaranteed salaries, or Exhibit 9 or Exhibit 10 contracts, which essentially function like non-guaranteed deals.

Unless otherwise noted, these players are on minimum-salary contracts. Some players on this list have partial guarantees, which we’ve also mentioned below.

Not all of these players will be waived before the regular season begins, so we’ll maintain this list for the next several months, up until January 10, 2022. That’s the day that all players still under contract will have their salaries fully guaranteed for the rest of the 2021/22 season.

Only players who have formally signed contracts are listed below, so if a player has reportedly reached an agreement with a team on a non-guaranteed deal, we’ll add him to our list when that deal becomes official.

Without further ado, here’s the full list of players without fully guaranteed salaries for 2021/22, broken down by team:

Updated 1-8-22 (7:58am CT)

Atlanta Hawks

  • None

Boston Celtics

  • None

Brooklyn Nets

  • None

Charlotte Hornets

  • None

Chicago Bulls

  • None

Cleveland Cavaliers

  • None

Read more

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Largest Trade Exceptions Created This Offseason

August 13th, 2021 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 26 trades have been completed to so far during the 2021 NBA offseason, and many of those deals generated at least one “traded player exception.”

As we explain in our glossary, a traded player exception allows a team to take on salary in a trade without sending out any salary in return. The amount of the exception plus $100K is the amount of salary the team is permitted to take back without salary-matching – either in a single deal or in multiple trades – for one year.

For instance, a team with a $10MM trade exception could acquire a player earning $4MM and a player earning $6.1MM without having to worry about sending out any outgoing salary.

One of the biggest trade exceptions ever created – the Thunder‘s $27.5MM TPE from last November’s Steven Adams trade – expired last week without being used, but Oklahoma City still has a pair of sizeable exceptions to work with, as our tracker shows. The team could also create upwards of $30MM in cap space by renouncing all its exceptions, including the mid-level and bi-annual.

While the Thunder have some big traded player exceptions, they aren’t one of the teams that created sizable new TPEs in offseason deals this year. Here are the largest new trade exceptions generated this summer:

  1. New Orleans Pelicans: $17,073,171 (Steven Adams)
  2. Brooklyn Nets: $11,454,048 (Spencer Dinwiddie)
  3. Dallas Mavericks: $10,865,952 (Josh Richardson)
  4. Boston Celtics: $9,720,900 (Tristan Thompson)
    • Note: It’s unclear whether the Celtics absorbed Bruno Fernando‘s salary ($1,782,621) using the Thompson exception or their Kemba Walker trade exception ($6,879,100). We’re assuming for now that Fernando slotted into the Walker exception, reducing its value to $5,096,479. However, if he went into the Thompson TPE, its value would be reduced to $7,938,279.
  5. Utah Jazz: $7,475,379 (Derrick Favors)
    • Note: There was an expectation that the Jazz would slot Eric Paschall‘s salary ($1,782,621) into one of two trade exceptions that were set to expire on August 6. However, it appears the deal wasn’t completed until August 7 for logistical reasons, meaning the Favors TPE (originally $9,258,000) would’ve had to be used.
  6. Indiana Pacers: $7,333,333 (Doug McDermott)
  7. Chicago Bulls: $5,000,000 (Daniel Theis)

For a second straight year, a team generated the largest trade exception of the offseason by trading Adams. This time around, it was the Pelicans, who cleverly folded separate trade agreements with the Grizzlies and Hornets into one three-team deal, sending Wesley Iwundu to Charlotte to ensure that Adams’ salary wouldn’t be required for matching purposes.

The Pelicans and Mavericks are the two best candidates on this list to make use of their newly-created exceptions at some point. The larger the exception is, the easier it is to find a use for, and those are two of the three biggest in this group.

The other big TPE belongs to the Nets, but they’re already way over the tax line and will be reluctant to take on more salary unless they have a really good reason to do so. That’s probably true of most of the other teams on this list too — the Celtics and Jazz in particular have to be conscious of luxury-tax concerns as they mull the possibility of taking on additional salary. New Orleans and Dallas have more wiggle room, while the Pacers and Bulls are somewhere in between.

The full list of available trade exceptions can be found here.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

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