There are factors working against teams going hog wild to make deals

by **112288** Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:10 pm

NBA.COM

The new rules in the new CBA make sign-and-trade deals almost pointless for the trading team. There is no longer that extra year that the home team got on S/T deals in the past that would make the player more willing to do them -- and give the home team a better chance at making a fairer deal by being able to get additional assets.

Cap room is a more precious commodity than ever; because of the incredibly punitive nature of the luxury tax after the 2012-13 season, teams are going to be increasingly reluctant to use the full mid-level exception on players, for fear it will put them in tax hell. So, the way to get players is to have the cap room to either take in their contracts or sign them as free agents.

In addition, with the 2012 Draft shaping up to be one of the strongest in recent years, teams are more reluctant than they have been in recent years to part with picks as part of deals.

But there will be some trades. There almost always are. So let's look at the likeliest candidates.

112288