NBA players eligible to be traded on Jan. 15, 2025
01/08/2025 04:13 PM
The Dec. 15 newly signed player trade restriction date has come and gone. When that happened, 85 players became eligible to be traded that previously couldn’t be moved. Now, trade season is really picking up, and the Feb. 6 NBA trade deadline is just around the corner. That is when the majority of in-season trades will be made. However, some trades will happen beforehand. That was evidenced by the separate deals that saw D’Angelo Russell sent to the Brooklyn Nets and Dennis Schroder traded to the Golden State Warriors. There are still a number of players who are ineligible to be traded, though, at least for now. Jan. 15, 2025, is a big day in trade season, and it will see a bunch more players become trade-eligible. So, here is everything you need to know about the Jan. 15 trade restriction deadline, including the players who will become trade-eligible on that date.
Jan. 15 trade restriction rules
The NBA wants to avoid players re-signing with a team just for said team to immediately ship them off in a trade. This creates somewhat of a commitment between the organization and the player, and it also ensures that teams can’t just sign a player as a form of trade bait.
Players who re-sign with their respective teams (that are over the salary cap) in the offseason using bird or early-bird rights to a contract 20% greater or more than their previous deal are ineligible to be traded until Jan. 15. This year, that applies to 17 players in total, all of which will become trade-eligible on Jan. 15.
Players eligible to be traded on Jan. 15
- Nic Claxton, Brooklyn Nets, C
- Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets, SF
- Patrick Williams, Chicago Bulls, PF
- Obi Toppin, Indiana Pacers, PF
- Max Christie, Los Angeles Lakers, SG
- Haywood Highsmith, Miami Heat, SF
- Precious Achiuwa, New York Knicks, C
- OG Anunoby, New York Knicks, SF
- Isaiah Joe, Oklahoma City Thunder, SG
- Aaron Wiggins, Oklahoma City Thunder, SF
- Goga Bitadze, Orlando Magic, C
- KJ Martin, Philadelphia 76ers, SF
- Tyrese Maxey, Philadelphia 76ers, PG
- Josh Okogie, Phoenix Suns, SF
- Malik Monk, Sacramento Kings, SG
- Immanuel Quickley, Toronto Raptors, PG
- Johnny Juzang, Utah Jazz, SF
Takeaways from Jan. 15 trade date
Most of, if not all of these players won’t be traded between Jan. 15 and the Feb. 6 trade deadline. After all, their teams re-signed them because they liked what they had offered the team under their last contracts. The NBA is a business, though, and you never know when a trade will materialize.
Miles Bridges perhaps best fits the description of a trade candidate. He is a great player on a bad team, which means it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the Charlotte Hornets became sellers and moved him for future assets. However, Bridges’ ugly past with the law means a lot of teams would be hesitant to bring him on board.
The Philadelphia 76ers are another team that has struggled in comparison to expectations this year. However, Tyrese Maxey isn’t going anywhere, as he is one of their franchise players and is still only 24 years old. Plus, the 76ers have started to improve after a slow start that saw them riddled with injuries. Philadelphia has shown a willingness to drastically shake up their roster, though, as evidenced by the massive changes they made in the offseason. That makes KJ Martin one of the more likely players to actually be moved who is eligible to be traded starting on Jan. 15.
Precious Achiuwa is another player to watch out for in the trade market. The Knicks have a lot of money invested into their current core, which might make yet another trade (they’ve made recent deals for Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, and OG Anunoby over the last year) unlikely. Additionally, Mitchell Robinson’s injury history makes Achiuwa a valuable player to have on the roster as backup center insurance. Anunoby is also trade-eligible on Jan. 15, but the Knicks won’t be trading him any time soon.
We’d have a tough time seeing the Brooklyn Nets move on from Nic Claxton despite the signs that show they are in a rebuild. They committed to Claxton for the long run in the offseason, and they are likely to stick with him while they re-tool the roster around him. Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins also seem likely to stay put for now. They have proven themselves as important pieces as the Oklahoma City Thunder have emerged as one of the best teams in the NBA. However, the team has so much future draft capital that a future trade for a star seems inevitable, and Joe and Wiggins’ contracts might need to be included in a deal, regardless of how much the Thunder appreciate them being on their roster.
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