A total of 13 traded player exceptions created during the 2021 NBA offseason are set to expire this month if they go unused.
A trade exception is an NBA salary cap exception that can be generated when a team trades a player away. It allows that team to acquire a certain amount of salary without sending out any in return for one year after the exception was created. The club is permitted to trade for a player earning the amount of the exception, plus $100K.
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For instance, the Trail Blazers are set to use their $20,864,198 trade exception, created in February’s CJ McCollum trade, to acquire Jerami Grant, who is earning $20,955,000 in 2022/23. Grant narrowly fits into that TPE after accounting for the $100K in wiggle room.
Most trade exceptions expire without being used, but teams can sometimes find a use for them — especially the bigger ones like Portland’s. So it’s worth keeping tabs on which ones are still available.
Here are the 13 exceptions set to expire this month:
- Boston Celtics: $17,142,857 (expires 7/18)
- Los Angeles Clippers: $8,250,000 (expires 7/18)
- Indiana Pacers: $7,333,333 (expires 7/7)
- New Orleans Pelicans: $6,382,262 (expires 7/7)
- Chicago Bulls: $5,000,000 (expires 7/7)
- Memphis Grizzlies: $4,054,695 (expires 7/7)
- Brooklyn Nets: $3,246,530 (expires 7/6)
- Toronto Raptors: $3,070,052 (expires 7/6)
- Atlanta Hawks: $1,782,621 (expires 7/7)
- Golden State Warriors: $1,782,621 (expires 7/7)
- Milwaukee Bucks: $1,517,981 (expires 7/7)
- Boston Celtics: $1,440,549 (expires 7/7)
- Brooklyn Nets: $118,342 (expires 7/6)
The Celtics’ $17MM exception, created in last year’s Evan Fournier sign-and-trade, is the most noteworthy one here, but it appears unlikely to be used. Boston reached a deal last week to acquire Malcolm Brogdon without having to use the exception, and now appears to be a long shot to strike another major trade agreement.
The third exception on this list, the Pacers’ $7.3MM TPE, will disappear if Indiana decides to operate under the cap. The team would have to renounce the exception in order to actually make use of its cap room.
While it’s possible some of the other exceptions on this list will be used before they expire, they won’t accommodate any of the deals that have been agreed upon to date.
The full list of outstanding trade exceptions can be found right here.