In a pair of previous articles, we took a closer look at the trade restrictions placed on two groups of players who signed free agent contracts this past offseason. The smaller of the two groups featured players who can’t be traded by their current teams until January 15, having re-signed on contracts that met a set of specific criteria. The other offseason signees we examined aren’t eligible to be traded until December 15.
In addition to those two groups, there are a few other subsets of players who face certain trade restrictions this season. They either can’t be traded until a certain date, can’t be traded in certain packages, or can’t be traded at all prior to February’s deadline.
Listed below are the players affected by these trade restrictions. This list, which we’ll continue to update throughout the season as needed, can be found on our desktop sidebar under “Hoops Rumors Features,” or in our mobile menu under “Features.”
Players who recently signed as free agents or had their two-way contracts converted:
A player who signs a free agent contract typically becomes trade-eligible either three months after he signs or on December 15, whichever comes later. That means a player who signs on September 1 would become trade-eligible on Dec. 15, but one who signs on Sept. 22 wouldn’t be eligible to be dealt until Dec. 22.
Similarly, players who have two-way pacts converted to standard contracts can’t be dealt for three months after that happens.
Here are the affected players, who signed free agent contracts or were converted from two-way deals after Sept. 15, along with the dates their trade restrictions lift. Players marked with an asterisk (*) have the ability to veto trades:
December 16:
December 19:
December 25:
December 26:
January 1:
January 4:
January 21:
January 24:
February 8:
Players who sign free agent contracts or have their two-way deals converted to standard contracts after November 8 this season won’t become trade-eligible prior to the 2024 trade deadline, which falls on February 8. That restriction applies to the following players, listed in alphabetical order:
Players who recently signed veteran contract extensions:
A player who signs a veteran contract extension can’t be dealt for six months if his new deal includes a raise greater than 5% and/or puts him under contract for more than three total years (including his current contract). An extension that meets either of those criteria would exceed the NBA’s extend-and-trade limits.
A player can sign a veteran extension and remain trade-eligible as long as his new deal doesn’t include a raise of more than 5% and doesn’t lock him up for more than three total seasons. Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis, for instance, remained eligible to be traded after signing a two-year extension that featured a pay cut in the first year and a 5% raise in the second.
Here are the players whose recent veteran extensions exceed the extend-and-trade limits, along with the dates their trade restrictions lift:
December 27:
December 28:
December 29:
January 6:
January 7:
January 9:
February 6:
Ineligible to be traded before this season’s February 8 deadline:
Additionally, when a player signs a super-max contract extension, he becomes ineligible to be traded for one full year.
That means Celtics wing Jaylen Brown won’t become trade-eligible prior to the 2024 deadline despite signing his extension in July. Brown is the only player who signed a super-max (designated veteran) contract this summer.
Players who were recently traded:
Players who were recently traded can be flipped again immediately. However, unless they were acquired via cap room, they can’t be traded again immediately in a deal that aggregates their salary with another player’s for matching purposes.
For instance, after acquiring Marcus Morris from the Clippers on November 1, the Sixers could turn around and trade Morris and his $17.1MM salary right away for another player earning about the same amount. But if Philadelphia wants to package Morris and, say, Robert Covington ($11.7MM) for salary-matching purposes in a deal for a big-money player, the team would have to wait two months to do so.
There are a total of five trades that currently fall within the aggregation restriction window. Here are the dates when the players involved in those deals can once again have their salaries aggregated in a second trade:
November 27:
December 1:
December 17:
January 1:
Any player who is traded after December 8 (without being acquired via cap room) won’t be eligible to be flipped before the trade deadline in a second deal that aggregates his salary with another player’s.
Note: Only players on standard, full-season contracts are listed on this page. Players who sign 10-day contracts can’t be traded. Players who sign two-way deals can’t be traded for up to 30 days after signing.
Bouknight was the only player who was retained while his team declined his 2024/25 rookie scale option.
