NBA Team Executive: ‘There’s Going To Be A Lot Of Movement This Summer’

“It’s gonna be a crazy summer,” one Western Conference executive told Jake Fischer of The Stein Line. “There’s going to be a lot of movement.”

But wait. There’s more.

“Trades are going to be the marquee aspect because there’s a number of high-level players [available] and there aren’t any marquee free agents,” Fischer quoted another team’s salary cap strategist as saying.

While some smoke usually means teams are indeed firing up the potential trade calls, there’s sometimes more buzz than what will actually take place. But this summer feels a little different to most around the NBA.

Everyone from Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo to Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant is already spinning on the rumor mill, with ESPN’s Brian Windhorst predicting more might be on the way.

“An additional potential boost for those of you rooting for trades: Teams positioned under the first apron will have more flexibility than ever before under this new CBA to utilize any previously created trade exception to take back more salary than they send out,” Fischer wrote. “The specific rule in question is wonky to explain, but non-apron teams will be allowed this offseason to take in $8.5 million more than they send out in deals by taking advantage of expanded salary-matching bands … although such maneuvers do trigger a hard cap at the first apron that creates its own complications.”

So, lots of trades coming to the NBA this offseason? Well, according to a couple of team execs, yes. Just how big those trades could be, however, remains to be seen.