{"id":1453933,"date":"2021-12-12T14:29:29","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T19:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1453933"},"modified":"2023-05-25T17:12:13","modified_gmt":"2023-05-25T21:12:13","slug":"what-is-an-nba-trade-exception-and-how-does-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/what-is-an-nba-trade-exception-and-how-does-it-work\/","title":{"rendered":"What is an NBA Trade Exception and How Does It Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dec. 15 is an important date on the NBA<\/a> calendar. That\u2019s the date when the bulk of players who signed new contracts during the previous offseason are eligible to be traded. Once a free agent signs a contract, he\u2019s ineligible for inclusion in trades for three months or until Dec. 15, whichever date is later. That marks Dec. 15 as the league's unofficial opening day for trade season. And where there are trade rumors, there will be mentions of trade exceptions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what are they, and how do they work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trade exceptions are in the NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement as another means for teams to exceed the salary cap without luxury-tax consequences. The clause is one of the most confusing in the CBA, but we\u2019ll clear up some of the clutter here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First and foremost, you won\u2019t find \u2018trade exception\u2019 in the NBA CBA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If one goes to the CBA document<\/a> itself and searches for the term \u201ctrade exception,\u201d they will be disappointed. While it is the commonly used name for the salary-cap loophole, it\u2019s officially called the Traded Player exception. The legal people aren\u2019t so concerned with ease of speech, hence the more extended terminology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In general, exceptions are the mechanisms that allow creative general managers to add player salaries that exceed the salary cap. One of the most common exceptions is Bird rights<\/a>. Using Bird rights, a team can go over the cap to retain its free agents. Those rights also allow the team to offer an additional year beyond the four-year limit imposed by the CBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mid-level and bi-annual exceptions also deal with free agents, providing relief for cap-pinched franchises to add players. The CBA offers an exception for veteran's minimum contracts to keep older players from being priced out of the league. Regardless of the player\u2019s experience, the cap charge for a minimum deal cannot exceed that of a three-year veteran on the scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is an NBA trade exception, and how does a team get one?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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