First Trade Availability Deadline Approaching in Two Days
Free agents signed over the 2016 offseason cannot be traded before a three-month moratorium, or December 15, has eclipsed – whichever is longer.
While players who do not fall under this category can be traded at any point until the February trade deadline, for the rest of the league, this means that possible trades involving players signed as free agents in the offseason cannot be accomplished until this restriction is lifted – the nearest date being December 15, 2016 – which this season happens to also coincide with the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement deadline.
For Phoenix, this was a particularly important issue last season as everyone knew that the Suns were looking to trade Markieff Morris. Trades discussed earlier in the year were potentially blocked by the unavailability of players falling within the moratorium. Eventually the Suns literally waited until the last minutes prior to the trade deadline in February, but may have had opportunities earlier in the season, had it not been for said restriction.
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This season many expect General Manager Ryan McDonough to make at least one move, trading any one or more of Brandon Knight, Tyson Chandler, P.J. Tucker, and/or Eric Bledsoe. Though no legitimate rumors have surfaced as to possible transactions involving the Suns, it is widely speculated that something will happen.
The first hurdle to a trade is this deadline.
For the Suns, they only have Jared Dudley, Leandro Barbosa, and Derrick Jones Jr. on the list. Although chances are that none of those players are traded by Phoenix unless one or more are used in a blockbuster helping to make returning contracts better lineup.
By my count, there will be 126 players made available by trade on December 15, including the Suns’ three.
Since the Suns will likely be looking to trade veterans for youth, very few – if any – of the 123 other players will probably be on their radar. However, should a move become complicated for some reason, whether it being additional players or additional teams involved to get the player(s) they want, having these players now available will assist in making trades happen earlier in the season rather than later.
Once this date has passed, all current players on the Suns roster will be available for trade. However, while a few more players who signed late in the offseason will begin to trickle into availability, the next moratorium deadline is January 14 when, according to ESPN, “Any player on a rookie wage scale contract who signs an extension can not be traded in the first season of the extension until January 15, if his salary in the first season of the extension is greater than 120 percent of the salary in the last year of his rookie scale contract and his team is over the salary cap.”
Like last year when it was common understanding that the Suns were going to trade Markieff Morris, even as these deadlines passed, no moves were made. It still took until deadline day for Morris to be moved, so fans should not be surprised if the same thing, or something similar, occurs again this year.
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