Hoops Rumors Originals

Hoops Rumors’ 2023 NBA Free Agent Tracker

We’re over a month into the 2023 free agent period, and while the news cycle has slowed down drastically since early July, contract agreements continue to be announced and/or reported on a near-daily basis.

Hoops Rumors is here to help you keep tabs on which players are heading to which teams this offseason, using our Free Agent Tracker, a feature we’ve maintained each year since our inception in 2012. Using our tracker, you can quickly look up deals, sorting by team, position, free agent type, and a handful of other variables.

A few notes on the tracker:

  • Some of the information you’ll find in the tracker will reflect tentative agreements, rather than finalized deals. As signings become official, we’ll continue to update and modify the data as needed.
  • Similarly, contract years and dollars will be based on what’s been reported to date, so in some cases those amounts will be approximations rather than official figures. Salaries aren’t necessarily fully guaranteed either.
  • Players who have reportedly agreed to training camp/Exhibit 10 deals won’t be added to the tracker until those deals are official.
  • A restricted free agent who signs an offer sheet won’t be included in the tracker right away. We’ll wait to hear whether the player’s original team will match or pass on that offer sheet before we update our tracker, in order to avoid any confusion.
  • If you’re viewing the tracker on our mobile site, be sure to turn your phone sideways to see more details.

Our 2023 Free Agent Tracker can be found anytime on the right sidebar of our desktop site under “Hoops Rumors Features,” and it’s also under the “Tools” menu atop the site. On our mobile site, it can be found in our menu under “Free Agent Lists.”

The tracker will be updated throughout the offseason, so be sure to check back for the latest info. If you have any corrections, please let us know right here.

Our lists of free agents by position/type and by team break down the players who have yet to reach contract agreements.

Players Who Can’t Be Traded Until January 15

As we detailed in an earlier article, players who signed new contracts as free agents during the 2023/24 league year can’t be traded for three months or until December 15, whichever comes later. That means that nearly every team has at least one player – and often more than one – who won’t become trade-eligible until mid-December.

There’s also a small subset of free agent signees whose trade ineligibility lasts for an extra month. These 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.

Listed below are the players who meet this criteria and can’t be traded until at least January 15, 2024. Players who have the ability to veto trades in 2023/24 are marked with a caret (^).

We’ll continue to update this page over the next few months, if necessary.


Brooklyn Nets

Charlotte Hornets

Chicago Bulls

Los Angeles Lakers

Milwaukee Bucks

New Orleans Pelicans

Orlando Magic

Philadelphia 76ers

Portland Trail Blazers

Sacramento Kings

San Antonio Spurs

Toronto Raptors

Washington Wizards

Players Who Can’t Be Traded Until December 15

As teams explore the trade market for potential deals to complete their rosters for training camp, there are a number of trade restrictions those clubs must take into account. Most notably, newly signed free agents can’t be dealt until at least December 15.

The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a free agent who signs with an NBA team can’t be traded for three months or until December 15, whichever is later. There are also some recently signed players who meet a few specific criteria and can’t be traded until January 15. That list of players can be found right here.

The players who aren’t eligible to be traded until December 15 are listed below.

Players whose contracts haven’t been officially finalized aren’t yet listed below. Players who have the ability to veto trades in 2023/24 are marked with a caret (^). Players on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts are marked with an asterisk (*).

We’ll continue to update this page over the next few months as players are signed or waived.

Updated 12-15-23 (7:00am CT)


Atlanta Hawks

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

Charlotte Hornets

Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Dallas Mavericks

Read more

NBA Players Who Can Veto Trades In 2023/24

No-trade clauses are rare in the NBA, since a player must meet a specific set of criteria in order to qualify for one. And even those players who become eligible may not have the leverage to demand a no-trade clause, which significantly limits a team’s flexibility in future trade negotiations.

To be eligible to negotiate a no-trade clause, a player must have at least eight years of NBA experience and has to have spent at least four years (not necessarily the most recent four years) with his current team. He also must be signing a free agent contract, rather than an extension.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: No-Trade Clause]

Bradley Beal is the only NBA player who currently has a no-trade clause in his contract. The presence of that clause limited his trade market this past offseason when the Wizards sought to move him and helped steer him to a preferred destination (Phoenix) for a relatively modest return.

Although Beal is the only player who has an explicit no-trade clause, there are several others who will have implicit no-trade clauses in 2023/24, giving them the ability to veto trades during the current league year.

A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection, unless he agrees to give up that protection when he inks his deal. That group doesn’t include players on two-way contracts, but it does include players who accept standard (non two-way) one-year qualifying offers.

A player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team also has the ability to veto a trade for a full calendar year.

With those criteria in mind, here are the players who must give their consent if their teams want to trade them during the ’23/24 league year:

Players with a no-trade clause:

Players whose offer sheets were matched:

Players re-signing for one year (or two years, with a second-year player/team option):

If any player who re-signed for one year approves a trade during the 2023/24 league year, he’ll have Non-Bird rights at season’s end instead of Early Bird or full Bird rights.

A handful of players with veto rights consented to trades during the 2022/23 season, including Mike Muscala, Serge Ibaka, Ryan Arcidiacono, and Kessler Edwards. Muscala and Edwards eventually had their team options for ’23/24 picked up, so their Bird rights – only lack thereof – didn’t come into play this summer. Ibaka and Arcidiacono, meanwhile, were waived before season’s end, meaning they didn’t enter the offseason with any form of Bird rights anyway.

Any player who approves a trade will retain his veto ability on his new team, and would have to consent to any subsequent deal during the 2023/24 season.

The following players were re-signed to one-year contracts (or two-year deals with an option year), but agreed to give up their right to veto a trade in 2023/24:

Community Shootaround: Which Non-Heat Team Should Pursue Lillard?

We’re now more than a month removed from Damian Lillard‘s trade request, which he submitted on July 1, and the Trail Blazers don’t appear to be much closer to moving the star guard today than they were at that time.

Lillard’s insistence that he only wants to play for the Heat has limited his market, as have the four years and $216MM left on his contract, which has reportedly made teams wary about giving up a significant package for him.

The Blazers are essentially stuck at an impasse, apparently “disinclined” to seriously engage with the Heat but also without any other viable options available to them for the time being, as ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said during an NBA Today appearance on Tuesday (YouTube link).

“As I look across the league and have conversations with executives and agents, I can’t identify another team that is seriously making an offer for Dame Lillard at this point,” Windhorst said. “And so my belief is that the Heat can’t either.

“And so while people can look at what the Heat’s offer might be and scoff at it, if their offer is the only one on the table, it therefore is the best one on the table. And the fact that Portland isn’t going forward with anything is a verification of that, that they don’t have another offer. So, very low incentive for the Heat to improve their offer at this point, and no incentive really right now for Portland to take that offer. And we have a stare-down.”

As ESPN’s Windhorst and Adrian Wojnarowski have said, and as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald reiterates, Miami has no desire to bid against itself in an effort to bring Portland back to the negotiating table, but remains hopeful that the Blazers will be willing to reopen those conversations at some point in the coming weeks.

A veteran assistant coach who spoke to Jackson suggests that the Heat and Blazers both have some incentive to try to get something done before the regular season begins. If Miami is going to acquire Lillard, the assistant observes, the team would prefer to do it sooner rather than later in order to begin establishing chemistry with its new-look roster following the loss of guards Gabe Vincent and Max Strus. Portland, meanwhile, would presumably like to have a clean slate to begin the 2023/24 season rather than keeping a disgruntled star on the roster and remaining in a holding pattern.

The clearest way for the negotiations to move forward would be for a second suitor besides the Heat to emerge as a serious contender for Lillard. Even if the Blazers don’t ultimately make a deal with that non-Heat team, the presence of another bidder could help push Miami to increase its offer to the point that Portland would be more willing to seriously consider it.

So our Community Shootaround question for today is this: Which non-Heat team makes the most sense as a suitor for Lillard?

The team would presumably have to meet a few criteria.

It would need to have the young player(s) and/or draft picks necessary to put together a strong offer for Lillard, as well as a strong enough core to seriously contend for a title after giving up several assets to land the veteran guard.

It would need to be comfortable with the idea of paying Lillard $60MM+ per year in 2025/26 and ’26/27.

And it would need to be confident in its leaders and culture to sell the seven-time All-Star on embracing a new NBA home somewhere besides Miami.

What do you think? Which non-Heat team is the best bet – or the most logical candidate – to emerge as a contender for Lillard? Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Hoops Rumors Glossary: NBA Roster Limits

The rules governing the number of players an NBA team can carry on its roster vary depending on the time of year.

Between the start of the regular season and the last day of a team’s season, a club isn’t allowed to carry more than 15 players on its roster, except in rare instances. Generally, when a club with 15 players on its roster acquires a new player, it must waive someone to clear a spot. In the offseason though, teams are permitted to carry up to 21 players on their rosters.

The regular season limit applies to players on standard contracts, while the offseason limit applies to players on any form of contract.

During both the regular season and offseason, a team is permitted to carry up to three players on two-way contracts, which are a non-standard form of deal that allows a player to be transferred back and forth between the NBA and G League.

In the regular season, two-way players don’t count toward the 15-man limit, meaning teams can essentially have 18 players under contract at a time. However, two-way players do count toward the 21-man limit in the offseason. If a club is carrying 21 players on standard NBA contracts in August, it can’t sign a player to a two-way deal without waiving someone.

[RELATED: 2023/24 NBA Roster Counts]

In some cases, a team ravaged by injuries will receive one or more extra spots on its regular season roster via the hardship provision. The NBA can grant a hardship exception – which allows the club to sign a player to a 10-day contract without requiring a roster spot – when a team has at least four players who have missed three consecutive games and who are expected to remain sidelined for at least the next two weeks due to injury or illness.

A team qualifies for a single hardship exception when it has four players who meet that criteria, but it can become eligible for additional hardship exceptions if it has a fifth or sixth injured/ill player. For example, if a club has six players who have missed at least three consecutive games due to injury and are expected to remain out for two more weeks, it could be granted three hardship exceptions, allowing the club to temporarily carry three extra players beyond its usual 15 (not counting two-ways).

A club is also permitted to add a 16th man to its regular season roster if it has a player on the suspended list. A player who is suspended by his team for four or more games may be placed on the suspended list following the third game of his ban, while a player suspended by the NBA for six or more games can be placed on the suspended list following the fifth game of his ban. Teams can’t make use of the suspended list for shorter suspensions.

Generally speaking, the fewest number of players an NBA team can have on its roster during the regular season is 14, not counting two-way players. However, a team is permitted to dip to 12 or 13 players for a limited period. That club can’t carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for more than two weeks at a time or more than 28 total days during a regular season.

The rules for in-game roster minimums and maximums are as follows:

  • A team can have between 12 or 15 players listed as active for a game.
  • A team can carry as few as 11 active players for up to two weeks at a time or up to 28 total days during a regular season.
  • A team must have at least eight players dressed for a game (at least three or four players beyond those eight must technically be listed as active).

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012 and 2013 by Luke Adams.

Community Shootaround: NBA’s 2023/24 Hierarchy

With free agency winding down, we have a clearer idea of what teams are going to look like for the 2023/24 season. Of course, there is still plenty of time between now and the start of training camps in late September, but many teams seem to be nearly regular-season-ready.

A clearer idea of what next season’s rosters will look like means a consensus should start to emerge on where teams stand in the NBA’s pecking order. However, it appears as though most teams in the league are trending toward building for the playoffs. Only a handful of clubs look like they’re planning on prioritizing youth development over a 2024 playoff appearance.

The Wizards sent off former franchise mainstay Bradley Beal this summer in the first of what became a series of deals that look to have Washington resetting its roster. Players like re-signed forward Kyle Kuzma and new additions Jordan Poole and Tyus Jones could keep Washington competitive, but the franchise lacks an All-Star to build around.

Teams like Detroit, San Antonio, Charlotte and Orlando are built around young cores, but there’s a sense that all four franchises will improve on their previous seasons.

Of course, the elephants in the room are the potential Damian Lillard and James Harden deals that would shake up the league’s hierarchy.

If Portland sends out Lillard, it likely means the franchise is planning for an all-out rebuild. However, the Trail Blazers were a competitive team for much of last season and, if they convince Lillard to stay, they could talk themselves into being a playoff contender. On the other hand, if Lillard ended up in Miami, his preferred destination, it would likely place the Heat among the top two or three teams in the Eastern Conference. The Heat are fresh off an NBA Finals appearance but lost veteran starters Gabe Vincent and Max Strus to free agency.

As for a potential Harden trade, the Clippers are the reported frontrunner for Harden is he’s dealt. Adding Harden likely moves the Clippers into the upper echelon of the Western Conference, though they’re a probable playoff team as is. Same goes for the Sixers. With or without Harden, Philadelphia likely sees itself in the playoffs.

The implementation of the Play-In Tournament means teams are more incentivized than ever to be competitive, especially after a play-in team in Miami made the Finals last year. Teams like Utah, Minnesota, Oklahoma City, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans, Indiana, Atlanta, Chicago, Toronto and Brooklyn seem like they could go either way. For example, the Rockets committed significant money to win-now pieces like Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks in free agency but still have several young players to develop.

Then there are the teams at the top. The Suns added Beal to a star-studded core but turned over a huge chunk of their roster and may lack continuity. The Nuggets are in good position to win the conference again but lost Bruce Brown in free agency. The Celtics added Kristaps Porzingis but shipped out Marcus Smart. The Bucks re-signed Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez but lost in the first round last year.

Beyond the obvious names, the Knicks and Cavaliers appear to have made on-paper improvements while the Lakers, Grizzlies, Kings and Warriors could pop out in the West.

Despite knowing what rosters will look like for the most part, there seems to be plenty of variability between every team in each conference.

That leads us to our Community Shootaround discussion topic of the day: Which teams in each conference do you consider the best bets to make the postseason? Which surprise teams will make the playoffs? Who do you think will come out of each conference on top?

Let us know what you think by taking to the comments of this post.

Community Shootaround: Knicks’ Offseason

The Knicks, buoyed by the free agent acquisition of Jalen Brunson, had one of their best seasons in the last two decades. They won 47 regular season games, defeated Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs and lost to eventual Eastern Conference champion Miami in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Now, the plan is to keep the momentum going into next season. Compared to last summer, the Knicks have had a relatively quiet offseason.

Perhaps the biggest offseason development was Josh Hart picking up his player option of $12.9MM, a somewhat surprising move that kept the valuable contributor off the market. He could eventually sign a lucrative extension.

The biggest offseason acquisition was guard Donte DiVincenzo, another all-around stat stuffer who was signed to a four-year deal via the mid-level exception.

New York also resolved the Obi Toppin dilemma by dealing him to Indiana. The former lottery pick could get more playing time with the Pacers after getting stuck behind Julius Randle in the Knicks’ pecking order.

DiVincenzo is a nice rotation pickup but not the star that some fans are hoping the front office will add. While the Knicks have been linked to some big names in recent months — Zach LaVine, Karl-Anthony Towns, Donovan Mitchell, among others — it appears the Knicks are content to run it back with a couple of tweaks.

Still, it’s tough to think the Knicks are done, if only because Evan Fournier is still on the roster. He’s essentially on an expiring contract, considering his $19MM salary for 2024/25 includes a club option. Fournier has no future in New York and expects to be off the roster before opening night.

The leads us to today’s topic: What do you think of the Knicks’ offseason thus far? Are they good enough to contend for the Eastern Conference title or should they make a big move to improve their chances?

Take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.

How 2024 Cap Increase Will Determine Value Of Brown’s Record-Setting Contract

When Jaylen Brown agreed to a five-year, super-max extension with the Celtics, it was widely reported to be a $304MM deal. That number is subject to change though, since the value of the contract will depend on the value of the NBA’s 2024/25 salary cap, which won’t be officially determined until next June.

Brown’s contract will start at 35% of the ’24/25 cap and will feature 8% annual raises after that.

The $304MM estimate for Brown’s super-max deal is based on a projected salary cap increase of 10%. The NBA and NBPA have agreed not to increase the cap by more than 10% per year in order to avoid a repeat of the 2016 offseason, when a 34.5% bump helped create a Warriors super-team and resulted in a number of regrettable contracts for other teams around the league.

With that ceiling in mind, a 10% cap increase next summer would represent a best-case scenario for Brown. But it’s also a realistic outcome — the cap has risen by 10% in each of the past two offseasons, so it’s forecasting it to happen again is certainly within reason.

If the cap were to increase 10% for 2024/25, Brown’s contract would look like this:

Year Salary
2024/25 $52,368,050
2025/26 $56,557,494
2026/27 $60,746,938
2027/28 $64,936,382
2028/29 $69,125,826
Total $303,734,690

Of course, the NBA hasn’t actually formally projected a 10% cap increase for 2024/25, so it’s a little early to lock in those figures for Brown.

If the cap were to instead increase by a more modest 5%, his deal would instead look like this:

Year Salary
2024/25 $49,987,700
2025/26 $53,986,716
2026/27 $57,985,732
2027/28 $61,984,748
2028/29 $65,983,764
Total $289,928,660

In either case, Brown’s contract would become the richest deal in NBA history, comfortably surpassing Nikola Jokic‘s five-year, $276,122,630 deal that begins in 2023/24. The only scenario in which Brown’s extension wouldn’t exceed Jokic’s is if the salary cap doesn’t increase at all in a year — then Brown’s deal would look exactly the same as Jokic’s.

A lot could happen in the next 11 months, but it would require very unusual circumstances for the cap not to rise at all. Since 2010, that has only happened amidst shortened seasons (due to a lockout and the COVID-19 pandemic). So we can confidently project Brown’s contract to be worth more than Jokic’s.

For what it’s worth, Brown won’t be the only player earning 35% of the cap in 2024/25. Devin Booker and Karl-Anthony Towns also signed super-max contracts that will go into effect a year from now, and their deals will look exactly the same as Brown’s from 2024-28. The only reason those aren’t considered record-setting contracts in their own right is because they’ll cover four years instead of five, since Booker and Towns signed extensions with two years left on their respective contracts rather than just one.

Of course, even Brown’s record is unlikely to stand for long. With an in-season tournament being introduced later this year and a new media rights deal around the corner, the NBA’s revenue and salary cap will likely only continue to grow in the coming years.

Brown’s Celtics teammate Jayson Tatum, who met the super-max performance criteria this spring and will meet the service time criteria in 2024, is the best bet to be the next recipient of the richest contract in league history. If the cap increases by 10% next year and another 10% in 2025, this is what a super-max deal for Tatum could look like:

Year Salary
2025/26 $57,604,750
2026/27 $62,213,130
2027/28 $66,821,510
2028/29 $71,429,890
2029/30 $76,038,270
Total $334,107,550

Hoops Rumors Glossary: Mid-Level Exception

The mid-level exception is the most common way for over-the-cap NBA teams to sign free agents from other clubs for more than the minimum salary. It helps ensure that virtually every team heads into the offseason with a little spending flexibility.

Teams are eligible to use specific types of mid-level exceptions depending on their proximity to the salary cap. The most lucrative form of mid-level is available to teams that are over the cap but below the first tax apron. Clubs above the first apron, and even those operating under the cap, have access to lesser versions of the MLE.

Here’s a breakdown of how the various forms of the exception are structured:


For teams over the cap and below the first tax apron:

  • Commonly called either the full mid-level exception or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Contract can cover up to four seasons.
  • First-year salary is worth $12,405,000 in 2023/24; maximum four-year value is $53,341,500.
  • Once used, the team cannot surpass the first tax apron (approximately $7MM above the tax line in 2023/24) for the remainder of the season.
  • Beginning in 2024/25, this form of mid-level exception can be used to acquire a non-free-agent via trade or waiver claim, as long as his contract fits into the exception (in terms of years and dollars). Only the player’s current-year salary must fit into the MLE.

For teams operating under the cap:

  • Commonly called the room exception.
  • Contract can cover no more than three seasons.
  • First-year salary is worth $7,723,000 in 2023/24; maximum three-year value is $24,327,450.
  • Beginning in 2024/25, this form of mid-level exception can be used to acquire a non-free-agent via trade or waiver claim, as long as his contract fits into the exception (in terms of years and dollars). Only the player’s current-year salary must fit into the room exception.

For teams over the cap and the first tax apron, but below the second apron:

  • Commonly called the taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Contract can cover up to two seasons.
  • First-year salary is worth $5,000,000 in 2023/24; maximum two-year value is $10,250,000.
  • Once used, the team cannot surpass the second tax apron ($17.5MM above the tax line in 2023/24) for the remainder of the season.

For teams over the cap and both tax aprons:

  • No mid-level exception is available.

Each form of the mid-level allows for annual raises of up to 5% of the value of the first season’s salary.


Teams can use their entire mid-level exception to sign one player. However, only one club has taken this route so far in 2023/24, with the Raptors signing Dennis Schröder to a multiyear contract that’s worth $12,405,000 in year one.

Teams are also allowed to split the mid-level among multiple players, and that has become an increasingly common course of action. For instance, the Mavericks have used their MLE to sign Seth Curry ($4MM) and Dante Exum ($3MM) so far in ’23/24 and still have more than $5MM remaining.

In the past, players drafted in the second round often signed contracts using a portion of the mid-level because the exception allows teams to offer more years and more money than the minimum salary exception provides. However, the new second-round pick exception has all but eliminated the need for teams to use the MLE on second-round picks.

Still, if a team wants to sign an undrafted free agent to a longer-term contract or convert a two-way player to a multiyear deal, the mid-level can come in handy. The Pelicans used their MLE this summer to move E.J. Liddell from his two-way deal to a three-year contract that begins at the minimum ($1,801,769).

Some front offices prefer to leave all or part of their mid-level exception unused in the offseason so it’s still available during the second half of the regular season. At that point, a contender could dangle its MLE in an effort to outbid rivals for top players on the buyout market. A non-contending club, on the other hand, could use its MLE to lock up an intriguing developmental player to a long-term contract.

Unlike the bi-annual exception, the mid-level exception can be used every season. So whether or not a team uses any of its mid-level in 2023/24, each club below the second tax apron in ’24/25 will have the opportunity to use some form of the MLE.

The amount of each form of mid-level exception increases – or decreases – at the same rate as the salary cap, ensuring that its value relative to cap room remains about the same from year to year. So if the salary cap rises by 10%, the mid-level values would rise by the same amount.

Here are a few more notes related to the mid-level exception:

  • A contract signed using a mid-level exception can include bonuses as long as the player’s maximum potential compensation doesn’t exceed the maximum value of the exception. For example, in 2023/24, a team can’t sign a player to a contract using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception that has a base salary of $12,405,000 and another $1MM in incentives. But a contract with a base salary of $11,405,000 and $1MM in incentives is permitted.
  • A team is only allowed to use one form of mid-level exception in a given season. For instance, an over-the-cap club that uses a portion of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception before shedding salary and dipping below the cap would not then be permitted to use the room exception.
  • On the day after the trade deadline, the value of a team’s unused mid-level exception begins to prorate downward. The exact amount of proration depends on how much of the MLE was unused as of January 10 and how many total days there are in the regular season. For example, if a team had $3MM of its mid-level left on January 10 and there are 174 days in that season, the MLE would decrease in value by $17,241 per day (1/174th of $3MM).

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years.