Why Dec. 15 is the unofficial beginning of NBA Trade Rumor SZN

The trade market is about to heat up in the NBA. What should we expect and why is Dec. 15 — or at least the night before — when it all begins?

The middle of December usually marks the holiday season, but in the NBA, it’s beginning of something else: Trade SZN.

When most people talk about trade season in the NBA, they’re referring to the days leading up to the midseason trade deadline, which is written into the collective bargaining agreement as the 17th Thursday of the season. This year, that Thursday is Feb. 7.

But Dec. 15 is an important date on the calendar as well, one all general managers, head coaches, front office staffs, and possibly even some players have circled on their calendars.

It’s the day newly signed free agents can officially be traded

And that’s why fireworks started early, with the Washington Wizards acquiring Trevor Ariza in a three-team trade with Memphis and Phoenix ... only for the deal to die because the Suns thought they were getting Dillon Brooks and the Grizzlies instead wanted to trade MarShon Brooks. (Ultimately the deal did pick back up, though, with Washington and Phoenix swapping Ariza for Oubre and Rivers.

The NBA’s collective bargaining agreements states that once a player signs a new contract with a team, he cannot be traded until either three months after signing that contract or Dec. 15, whichever is latest. Free agency typically begins on July 1. There’s a five-day moratorium where players can come to verbal agreements with a team, but don’t officially put pen to paper until July 6.

Oct. 6 is the date that falls three months after that moratorium is lifted, but that’s in the NBA preseason. Unless a free agent signs a multiyear contract with a team at the end of the regular season, he cannot be traded until Dec. 15 of the following season.

Players are rarely traded on this day, but increasingly, they’re traded shortly after. There have only been eight trades in NBA history in the month of Decmeber, but many have been recent.

One of them was on Dec. 18, 2014, when the Celtics traded Rajon Rondo and rookie Dwight Powell to the Mavericks for Jameer Nelson, Jae Crowder, a pair of picks, and a $12.9 million trade exception. The trade could not be executed until Nelson, a who had signed a contract in Boston the previous summer, was eligible for trade on Dec. 15.

That first-rounder became Guerschon Yabusele at pick No. 16 in the 2016 NBA Draft, but it could have easily been Caris LeVert, Dejounte Murray, Pascal Siakam, or Malcolm Brogdon. The deal also brought back Crowder, a player who became a key part of the rebuilt Celtics, then was integral in the 2017 trade that brought Kyrie Irving to Boston.

Dec. 15 is rolling around once again, and there are a number of teams that will become active trade suitors once their players are trade eligible.

The Lakers, for example, could use a trade to help add talent next to LeBron James. Los Angeles’ roster is comprised of James, talented young players, and veterans who signed a one-year deal with the team over the summer. Those veterans are now available for trade. The same can be said for multiple players across the league.

So who’s becoming available?

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst listed the Pelicans, Pistons, and Kings as teams that have been “calling around looking for ways to upgrade their rosters in recent weeks.”

But who is available for any team looking for an upgrade? We’ve already got some hits.

The Rockets will be moving on from Carmelo Anthony

They could have waived him or bought him out, but they waited until Dec. 15 so they could get a player in return via trade. So far, it’s unclear if there’s a market for Anthony. The Athletic’s Joe Vardon reported LeBron James would like the Lakers to sign him, but subsequent reports downplayed that link and James dodged an Anthony-to-Lakers question when asked by local media.

One option could be heading to Miami and playing with Dwyane Wade on his farewell tour, which could be Melo’s own as well. Other interesting fits include Portland next to Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum; Philly adding starpower alongside Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Jimmy Butler; Utah to provide some offensive punch given their slow start; and maybe even home to Brooklyn, which has lacked a wing playmaker after Caris LeVert’s injury.

Most options for Melo, though, seem to be grasping at straws. He hasn’t changed his game in a league that’s changed over the years.

Nobody is safe in Los Angeles

The Lakers have been a team many considered in need of trade help since they got off to their sloppy start to the season. They have been better after signing Tyson Chandler after the Suns bought him out, but they could still use a punch to give them legitimacy as a playoff contender this season.

Even if Ariza had been trade eligible earlier in the season, the Lakers would not have been able to trade for him. That’s because they did’t have players to trade then that matched his $15 million salary.

You have to assume Los Angeles won’t trade Brandon Ingram or Lonzo Ball unless it’s for a major difference maker; that just wouldn’t make much sense. But the only other players Los Angeles had eligible for trade were Kyle Kuzma, Josh Hart, Ivica Zubac, and rookies Mo Wagner and Svi Mykhailiuk. Not only would the Lakers not have trade their promising, young players for a vet like Ariza, but their young players also didn’t match Ariza’s salary.

But the Lakers filled the remainder of their roster with players on one-year deals last summer for maximum cap flexibility in 2019. With Dec. 15 arriving, they’ll be able to wheel and deal with Rajon Rondo, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Lance Stephenson, Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports Houston is interested in Caldwell-Pope. They could use Anthony in that deal, though Charania reports that the Rockets would need to find a fourth team to acquire Brandon Knight’s contract. Knight is owed a combined $30.2 million through this season and next.

Los Angeles also owns all of its first-round picks. They can put together a very convincing for any player who becomes available via trade.

What are the Pelicans going to do?

Windhorst reports that the Pelicans are beginning to feel the pressure of Anthony Davis’ looming free agency. He is one of the three best players in the NBA and will become an unrestricted free agent in 2020. If he rejects the Pelicans’ supermax extension offer this summer, the writing is on the wall. New Orleans must improve its roster to championship levels to convince him to stay, or face the scary reality of either having to trade him or lose him for nothing in free agency.

Ian Clark, Julius Randle, Jahlil Okafor, Kenrich Williams, and Elfrid Payton each become trade eligible on Dec. 15. It’s hard seeing a scenario, though, in which New Orleans is able to trade for a star this season.

The Kings can deal

Windhorst also listed the Kings as a team looking to improve its roster. They have at least one trade chip in Yogi Ferrell, a talented but undersized scoring guard who hasn’t gotten much play time behind De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason III.

Ferrell is now available for trade, and several teams could use depth at the point guard slot. The Kings can also take back $14 million salary in any rade because their $90 million payroll is well short of the league’s $101 million salary cap.

Even if they don’t trade Ferrell, that cap space will be attractive as a third team in a salary dump. Sacramento does not own a pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and could acquire one in exchange for that cap space.

The Nuggets have too many point guards

They probably did not anticipate second year guard Monte Morris playing this well this soon. He is, averaging 10 points, four assists and a steal off the bench behind Jamal Murray. Isaiah Thomas, who is recovering from hip surgery, has not played a game, but he also becomes trade eligible on Dec. 15.