79 NBA Players Newly Eligible To Be Traded

As of December 15, 79 NBA players who signed as free agents this offseason have officially become eligible to be traded. The list includes high-profile names such as Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Myles Turner, Julius Randle, and Fred VanVleet.

While some players like Lillard are unlikely to be moved, others, notably Chris Paul, have already been involved in trade speculation. Paul, who has unofficially parted ways with the LA Clippers, is now eligible to be dealt. Additionally, 14 players on the list, including Lillard, Harden, and VanVleet, possess the ability to veto any trade this season, meaning they cannot be traded without their consent.

Six of the newly trade-eligible players are on non-guaranteed contracts, including two from the San Antonio Spurs. If traded before the league-wide salary guarantee date of January 10, only the non-guaranteed portion of their salary counts for salary-matching purposes for the team trading them away, though the acquiring team must account for the full cap hit.

It is important to note that many recently signed players remain ineligible to be traded, with many becoming eligible on January 15 and others on unique dates. While teams typically wait until closer to the trade deadline (February 5) to make moves, some trades could occur sooner, as evidenced by two deals being finalized on December 15 last season.

A strategic consideration is that a player traded on or before December 16 can have their salary "re-aggregated" with another player's salary in a subsequent deal before the trade deadline, a tactic the Golden State Warriors employed with Dennis Schröder last season.