Special trade eligibility dates for 2024/25

In a few 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 included players who cannot be traded by their current teams until January 15, after re-signing contracts that met a set of specific criteria. The other offseason signees we examined are not eligible for trade until December 15th.

In addition to these two groups, there are a few other subsets of players who will face certain trading restrictions this season. They cannot be traded until a certain date, cannot be traded in certain packs, or cannot be traded at all before the February deadline.

Below are the players affected by these trading restrictions. This list, which we will continue to update as needed throughout the season, 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 converted their two-way contracts:

A player who signs a free agent contract is typically eligible to be traded three months after he signs, or on December 15, whichever comes later. That means a player who signs on September 1 will be eligible to be traded on December 15, but someone who signs on September 22 won’t be eligible to be dealt until December 22.

Likewise, players who have converted two-way agreements into standard contracts cannot be dealt with again for three months afterwards.

Here are the affected players who signed a free agent contract or moved on from a two-way deal after September 15, along with the dates their trade restrictions were lifted:

December 17:

January 2:

January 15:

January 16:

January 28:

January 31:

February 3:

February 5:

Players who sign free agent contracts or have their two-way deals converted to standard contracts after November 6 this season will not be eligible to trade before the 2025 trade deadline, which falls on February 6. That restriction doesn’t apply to all players yet, but we will update this story as necessary to provide a list of the recently signed free agents who are ineligible for trade this season.

Players who recently signed veteran contract extensions:

A player who signs a veteran contract extension will be barred from receiving deals for six months if his new deal exceeds the NBA’s extension and trade limits by meeting any of the following criteria:

• Includes a first year salary increase of more than 20% (or more than 20% of the estimated average salary, for players earning below average).
• Including a subsequent annual increase of more than 5%.
• Including a renegotiation of the player’s current salary.
• Insures the player for more than four seasons in total (including both his current deal and the extension).

A player can sign a veteran extension and remain eligible for trade as long as his new deal doesn’t meet any of these criteria. Timber wolves big man Rudy GobertFor example, they were still eligible to trade after signing a three-year extension, with a pay cut in the first year and a pay increase of less than 5% in the second and third years.

Here are the players whose recent veteran expansions exceed the expansion and trading limits, along with the dates when their trading restrictions will be lifted:

January 6:

January 7:

January 12:

January 23:

January 26:

February 2:

Ineligible to be traded before the February 6 deadline this season:

Additionally, if a player signs a super-max contract extension, he will no longer be eligible to be traded for a full year.

That means Celts forward Jayson Tatum will not be considered for trade before the 2025 deadline despite signing his extension in July. Tatum is the only player to sign a supermax (designated veteran) contract this summer.

Players recently cleared for waivers:

A player who is claimed on waivers is ineligible to be traded for 30 days. If a waiver claim is made during the off-season, the 30-day clock starts on the first day of the following season.

As our tracker shows, four waiver claims were filed during the 2024 offseason, but only one of those players is on a standard contract: Pistons big man Paul Reed.

Reed is ineligible to be dealt for the first 30 days of the season and then becomes trade eligible at November 21.

Players recently traded:

Players who have recently been traded can be immediately re-flipped. However, unless they were acquired through cap room, they cannot be immediately re-traded in a deal that combines their salary with that of another player for matching purposes.

For example, after takeover Jalen McDaniels of the Kings on October 15th Tracks could have turned around and immediately traded McDaniels and his $4.74 million salary for another player making around the same amount. But if San Antonio had wanted to package McDaniels and, let’s say, Zach Collins ($16.7 million) for salary matching in a deal for a player with more money, the team would have to wait two months to do so.

There are two transactions currently within the aggregation restriction window: San Antonio’s acquisition of McDaniels and the three teams Karl-Anthony Cities blockbuster that was completed on October 2. However, the aggregation restriction does not apply to most players involved in these deals for the following reasons:

• McDaniels (Tracks), Keita Bates-Diop (Timber wolves), Duane Washington (Hornets), and Charlie Brown Jr. (Hornets) have all been waived since they were traded.
• The Timber wolves are not allowed to aggregate salaries, because they operate above the second tax platform, i.e Julius Randle And Donte DiVincenzo are not eligible for consolidation, regardless of whether the two-month period has expired or not.
• DaQuan Jeffries was signed and traded to the Hornets as part of the Towns deal. Since signing a new contract, the trade restrictions for recently signed free agents apply to Jeffries and he will not be eligible for a move at all for three months.

That leaves only one player subject to the aggregation restriction: cities can now be aggregated by the Knicks with another player’s salary. December 2.

Any player traded after December 6 (without being acquired via cap room) is ineligible to be flipped in a second deal before the trade deadline that combines his salary with that of another player.

Please note: this page only lists players with a standard full-season contract. Players who sign a ten-day contract cannot be traded. Players who sign two-way deals cannot be traded for 30 days after signing.