Hoops Rumors Originals

Near the start of the 2019/20 campaign, we looked ahead and identified several dates and deadlines to watch on the NBA calendar throughout the rest of the season. While that list covered the general highlights, it’s worth taking a closer look at some of those key dates to keep an eye out for in January, which should be a busy month.

Let’s dive in…

Non-guaranteed contracts become guaranteed

January 10 is the date that all non-guaranteed NBA contracts for 2019/20 will officially become guaranteed, but January 7 is really the day to watch. If a team wants to avoid having a salary become guaranteed, the player must clear waivers before January 10, which means he needs to be cut by January 7, at the latest.

Many players without fully guaranteed salaries are in no danger of being waived within the next week, but some teams will take the opportunity to save a little money and open up a roster spot.

Teams can begin signing players to 10-day contracts

Around the same time that some NBA clubs will be opening up a roster spot by waiving a player on a non-guaranteed salary, teams will also be able to use those newly-created openings to sign players to 10-day contracts. Those 10-day deals, which can be signed as of January 5, give teams the opportunity to pick up a short-term injury replacement, or perhaps to get a brief look at a standout G League player.

We extensively outlined the details of 10-day contracts and explained how they work in our glossary entry on the subject.

More players become trade-eligible

A huge percentage of the NBA’s offseason signees became eligible to be traded back on December 15, but there are still many players who can’t be dealt. By the end of next month, that list of players ineligible to be traded will shrink further, since there are 25 players currently on track to have those restrictions lift between now and January 31.

January 15 is the key date, with 20 players becoming trade-eligible as of that Wednesday. That group is primarily made up of players who almost certainly aren’t going anywhere, such as Klay Thompson and Kristaps Porzingis. However, a handful of players on that list could be involved in trade rumors in 2020, including Nene and Rudy Gay.

A few other offseason signees have unique trade-eligible dates in January, since they were signed sometime after September 15 or inked an offseason extension. Those players are Dwight Powell (January 6), Caleb Martin (January 19), Jalen McDaniels (January 20), Wenyen Gabriel (January 21), and CJ McCollum (January 30).

Two-way contract deadlines

NBA teams will face a pair of key deadlines relating to two-way contracts in January. The first of those dates arrives on January 15, which is the last day that a team can sign a player to a two-way contract this season.

Most teams have already filled both of their two-way slots. Still, it’s safe to assume that a number of clubs will make changes at those spots within the next couple weeks, while the one team with a two-way opening – the Suns – will likely fill it.

On January 20, all players on two-way contracts will have their G League salaries for the season become fully guaranteed.

Other odds and ends

There are a few other dates in January that are worth mentioning, despite the fact that they’ll likely come and go without much fanfare.

On January 10, mid-level and room exceptions – along with other cap exceptions like the bi-annual exception – will start to prorate for the year, meaning a team with its full room exception available would no longer be able to offer the full $4.767MM amount to a free agent. Exceptions will decline in value by 1/177th per day, starting on January 10.

January 15 is the last day that teams can apply for a disabled player exception to replace an injured player who is deemed unlikely to return this season. A disabled player exception can give a club extra cap flexibility, though that team may still have to open up a roster spot to add a player using its DPE.

Our glossary entry explaining the disabled player exception can be found right here, while our list of 2019/20 DPEs is here. The Wizards, Pelicans, Trail Blazers, Lakers, and Nets have been granted DPEs this season.

A series of modest trade exceptions created in trades last January will expire within the next month. Two small Rockets TPEs will expire on January 7 and January 22, while the Mavericks will lose the smaller of their two TPEs on January 31 if it goes unused.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Every week, the Hoops Rumors writing team creates original content to complement our news feed. Here are our original segments and features from the past seven days:

• Looking for a page that tracks all the trades from this season? We’ve got you covered.
• Voting for the starters in the 2020 All-Star game has begun and we broke down who should be the top candidates in the Eastern Conference and Western Conference.
• Bismack Biyombo and Davis Bertans are among the free agents-to-be who have seen their stock rise this season, Dana Gauruder details in the latest installment of our Free Agent Stock Watch series.
• Marcus Morris could certainly be on the move before the trade deadline, as Luke Adams explained in the Atlantic Division’s version of our NBA Trade Candidate Watch.
• Adams broke down which players are eligible for a veteran extension during the 2019/20 campaign. Adams also explained the nuances of the veteran contract extension as part of our Hoops Rumors Glossary.
• In our Community Shootarounds, we asked:
  • What your ideal Christmas day NBA schedule would be?
  • Should the NBA reward teams that are playing well by giving them a game on Christmas?

As we noted in our glossary entry on veteran contract extensions, rookie scale extensions have historically been the most common form of contract extension in the NBA. However, the league’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement loosened the rules on eligibility for veteran extensions and made them a little more financially advantageous for players who don’t expect mega-deals.

As a result, we’ve seen a bump in veteran contract extensions in recent seasons. So far in the 2019/20 league year, nine players have signed them, matching the number of players who signed rookie scale extensions.

[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]

For a star like Anthony Davis, it still makes sense to wait until free agency to sign a new contract — the biggest raise he can receive on an extension would still be less than the maximum contract he’d be eligible to earn on the open market. The maximum starting salary a player like Davis can receive in a veteran extension is up to 120% of his current salary.

A player on a more modest contract can receive a maximum starting salary worth up to 120% of the NBA’s estimated average salary on an extension, assuming that amount is greater than 120% of his current salary. For this season, 120% of the estimated average salary would work out to a $11.47MM salary in the first year of a contract extension. A player who signs an extension that fits that bill could get up to four years and $51.39MM. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Dillon Brooks are among the players who are eligible for that sort of deal.

Now that the regular season is in full swing, the number of veterans eligible for contract extensions has declined, since players with more than one year left on their contracts aren’t permitted to ink an in-season extension. But there are still a number of veterans in the final year of their respective contracts who remain eligible for extensions right up until June 30, the last day of the current league year.

Listed below are the players who meet the criteria for a veteran extension. Players who were recently traded can be extended, but they have to wait for six months after the trade to sign a contract longer than three total years (including the current season) with a first-year raise exceeding 5%. If a player below is noted as having “limited” eligibility until a certain date, that’s why. Once six months pass, those players are eligible to sign an extension of up to five total years (including the current season) with a 20% first-year raise.

Additionally, extension-eligible players with a player or team option for 2020/21 would have to eliminate that option year as part of an extension agreement in order to meet the necessary criteria.

Here’s the full list of veterans currently eligible for contract extensions:

Atlanta Hawks

• Jeff Teague
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.

Boston Celtics

• Gordon Hayward
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.
• Semi Ojeleye
  • Note: 2020/21 team option must be declined.

Brooklyn Nets

• None

Charlotte Hornets

• Dwayne Bacon
• Nicolas Batum
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.
• Bismack Biyombo
• Willy Hernangomez
• Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
• Marvin Williams

Chicago Bulls

• Otto Porter
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Matthew Dellavedova
• Andre Drummond
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.
• Tristan Thompson

Dallas Mavericks

• Tim Hardaway Jr.
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.
• Courtney Lee

Denver Nuggets

• Paul Millsap
• Mason Plumlee

Detroit Pistons

• Langston Galloway
• John Henson
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.
• Reggie Jackson
• Brandon Knight
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.
• Tony Snell
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.

Golden State Warriors

• None

Houston Rockets

• None

Indiana Pacers

• None

Los Angeles Clippers

• None

Los Angeles Lakers

• Anthony Davis
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.

Memphis Grizzlies

• None

Miami Heat

• Jae Crowder
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.
• Goran Dragic
• Solomon Hill
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.
• Meyers Leonard
• Kelly Olynyk
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.

Milwaukee Bucks

• Sterling Brown

Minnesota Timberwolves

• Allen Crabbe
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.
• James Johnson
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.
• Evan Turner
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.

New Orleans Pelicans

• Frank Jackson
• E’Twaun Moore

New York Knicks

• Damyean Dotson
• Maurice Harkless
  • Note: Limited eligibility for rest of league year.

Oklahoma City Thunder

• Danilo Gallinari
• Abdel Nader
  • Note: 2020/21 team option must be declined.
• Andre Roberson

Orlando Magic

• D.J. Augustin
• Evan Fournier
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.
• Wesley Iwundu

Philadelphia 76ers

• None

Phoenix Suns

• Tyler Johnson

Portland Trail Blazers

• Kent Bazemore
• Hassan Whiteside

Sacramento Kings

• Bogdan Bogdanovic

San Antonio Spurs

• DeMar DeRozan
  • Note: 2020/21 player option must be declined.

Toronto Raptors

• Marc Gasol
• Serge Ibaka

Utah Jazz

• Jordan Clarkson
  • Note: Limited eligibility through June 23.

Washington Wizards

• Ian Mahinmi

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

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

As we did with 2019’s offseason trades and the in-season swaps from 2018/19, we’ll be keeping track of all the NBA trades completed this season as they become official, updating this post with each transaction. This post can be found anytime throughout the season on our desktop sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features,” or in our mobile menu under “Features.”

Trades are listed here in reverse chronological order, with the latest on top. So, if a player has been dealt multiple times, the first team listed as having acquired him is the one that ended up with him. For more details on each trade, click the date above it.

For more information on the specific conditions dictating if and when draft picks involved in these deals will actually change hands, be sure to check out RealGM.com’s breakdown of the details on traded picks. Trades that have been agreed upon but haven’t been officially finalized will be listed below in italics.

Here’s the full list of the trades completed during the 2019/20 NBA season:

February 6

• Cavaliers acquire Andre Drummond.
• Pistons acquire Brandon Knight, John Henson, and either the Cavaliers’ or Warriors’ 2023 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable).

February 6

• Hawks acquire Dewayne Dedmon, either the Rockets’ or Heat’s 2020 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable), and the Heat’s 2021 second-round pick.
• Kings acquire Jabari Parker and Alex Len.

February 6

• Clippers acquire Marcus Morris and Isaiah Thomas.
• Knicks acquire Maurice Harkless, the Clippers’ 2020 first-round pick, the Pistons 2021 second-round pick, the right to swap their own 2021 first-round pick with the Clippers’ 2021 first-round pick (top-four protected), and the draft rights to Issuf Sanon.
• Wizards acquire Jerome Robinson.

February 6

• Rockets acquire Bruno Caboclo.
• Grizzlies acquire Jordan Bell and the right to swap the Mavericks’ or Heat’s 2023 second-round pick (whichever is less favorable) with the Rockets’ 2023 second-round pick (top-32 protected).

February 6

• Heat acquire Andre Iguodala, Jae Crowder, and Solomon Hill.
• Grizzlies acquire Justise Winslow, Dion Waiters, and Gorgui Dieng.
• Timberwolves acquire James Johnson.

February 6

• Nuggets acquire Jordan McRae.
• Wizards acquire Shabazz Napier

February 6

• Sixers acquire Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III.
• Warriors acquire the Mavericks’ 2020 second-round pick, the Nuggets’ 2021 second-round pick, and the Raptors’ 2022 second-round pick.

February 6

• Hawks acquire Skal Labissiere and cash ($1,759,795).
• Trail Blazers acquire the Hawks’ 2024 second-round pick (top-55 protected).

February 6

• Hawks acquire Derrick Walton Jr. and cash ($1,313,576).
• Clippers acquire the Hawks’ 2022 second-round pick (top-55 protected).

February 6

• Timberwolves acquire D’Angelo Russell, Omari Spellman, and Jacob Evans.
• Warriors acquire Andrew Wiggins, the Timberwolves’ 2021 first-round pick (top-three protected), and the Timberwolves’ 2021 second-round pick.

February 6

• Magic acquire James Ennis.
• Sixers acquire the Lakers’ 2020 second-round pick.

February 5

• Rockets acquire Robert Covington, Jordan Bell, and the Warriors’ 2024 second-round pick.
• Hawks acquire Clint Capela and Nene.
• Timberwolves acquire Malik Beasley, Juan Hernangomez, Evan Turner, Jarred Vanderbilt, and the Nets’ 2020 first-round pick (top-14 protected).
• Nuggets acquire Gerald Green, Keita Bates-Diop, Shabazz Napier, Noah Vonleh, and the Rockets’ 2020 first-round pick.

January 25

• Mavericks acquire Willie Cauley-Stein.
• Warriors acquire the Jazz’s 2020 second-round pick.

January 24

• Mavericks acquire Justin Patton and cash ($800K).
• Thunder acquire Isaiah Roby.

January 21

• Kings acquire Kent Bazemore, Anthony Tolliver, the Trail Blazers’ 2024 second-round pick, and the Trail Blazers’ 2025 second-round pick.
• Trail Blazers acquire Trevor Ariza, Caleb Swanigan, and Wenyen Gabriel.

January 16

• Hawks acquire Jeff Teague and Treveon Graham.
• Timberwolves acquire Allen Crabbe.

December 23

• Jazz acquire Jordan Clarkson.
• Cavaliers acquire Dante Exum, the Spurs’ 2022 second-round pick, and the Warriors’ 2023 second-round pick.