NBA Trade Info Thread (2021-22)

The NBA calendar hitting Dec. 15 marks the unofficial countdown to the Feb. 10 NBA trade deadline. More than 110 free agents signed this offseason are now eligible to be traded, and although teams are still evaluating their rosters, internal dialogue has begun. Teams are discussing what works and what potential changes (some minor) they need.

There hasn't been a trade in the NBA since Oct. 6, but at the moment, the big focus is in Philadelphia, where the future of disgruntled guard Ben Simmons could lead to a domino effect across the league if the former No. 1 overall pick is indeed traded.

To get a better sense of the 2021-22 trade market, we have broken down the entire player pool into three categories below: expiring contracts, long-term deals and players still carrying trade restrictions.

We've organized these tables by player role (franchise centerpiece, All-Star, starter, reserve, etc.), salary and years remaining on their contracts. You can use these tables when attempting to determine which trades are possible across the league -- especially because 29 out of the 30 teams don't have salary-cap space (only Oklahoma City has room) and will need to trade salaries that match within 125%, 175% or $5 million.

Teams such as the Celtics ($17.2, $9.8 and $5 million), Magic ($17.2 million), Pelicans ($17.1 million), Nets ($11.5 and $6.3 million), Thunder ($11.3 million and $9.6 million), Mavericks ($10.9 million), Clippers ($8.3 million) and Jazz ($8.5 million) have large trade exceptions and can can acquire a player without sending back salary because of a previously created trade exception.

Expiring contracts

Because each of these 146 players is in the last year of his contract (or holds an option that could make him a free agent this summer), there is a risk that the acquiring team could lose the player in free agency.

However, there has been a seismic shift on teams taking more of a chance on "rental players" in the past three seasons.

Jordan Clarkson, Marcus Morris Sr., Derrick Rose and Norman Powell were in the last year of their respective contracts and traded to playoff teams.

The four players had an immediate impact on their new teams and were re-signed after entering free agency.

Beyond the on-court benefits they got, the Jazz, Clippers, Knicks and Trail Blazers took advantage of the signing rights they acquired in the trades -- full Bird for Clarkson and Powell, non-Bird for Morris and early Bird for Rose -- to exceed the cap and retain a player they wouldn't have otherwise been able to add in free agency.

That same thinking also applies to the Cavaliers acquiring Jarrett Allen. Cleveland was not projected to have cap space in 2021 to sign Allen but acquired his Bird rights and exceeded the cap to sign him to a five-year, $100 million contract. Allen was recently named Eastern Conference Player of the Week, and the Cavaliers are in the thick of the play-in race in the East.