NBA trade season opened on Sunday, when 123 players joined the list of eligible assets. Only about 10 percent of players remain under restriction, most of whom join the fray on Jan. 15, and the league is trade starved. Nobody has swapped players since Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook traded places on July 16.
The Athletic’s John Hollinger recently laid out his case for a relatively quiet transaction wire between now and the Feb. 6 trade deadline, citing the lack of bad contracts, cap space and mid-tier salaries as evidence. The poor 2020 free-agency class could also limit the market, and with all but a handful of teams still eyeing the playoffs, any potential movement may be delayed until the standings sort out the buyers from the sellers.