Offer and acceptance in NBA trades

2323

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Does anyone know the formality of when an NBA deal is final? Is it merely upon acceptance? If that's the case, what happens when players like Mirotic can't be traded until December? Can a trade be agreed upon but with a players movement being delayed?
 

Crystallas

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This is how I understand it. The teams submit the trade to the NBA commissioners office, the trustees/league lawyers determine if a trade is legal, if so, it's official, and the players change teams. If a concern exists with a trade, the NBA board then requires approval from the board of trustees/owners and sometimes the NBAPA to over-ride a deal. If a player has a no-trade clause, the NBAPA designates with the player to confirm or deny to waive the clause.

Once two or more teams agree, the rest is done very quickly, like 10 minutes.

If a trade violates a rule, the NBA can then veto the trade. Like Chris Paul to the LA Lakaers(although that is a very different technicality). Trading a signed FA would be a NBAPA issue, not a board issue.
 

2323

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This is how I understand it. The teams submit the trade to the NBA commissioners office, the trustees/league lawyers determine if a trade is legal, if so, it's official, and the players change teams. If a concern exists with a trade, the NBA board then requires approval from the board of trustees/owners and sometimes the NBAPA to over-ride a deal. If a player has a no-trade clause, the NBAPA designates with the player to confirm or deny to waive the clause.

Once two or more teams agree, the rest is done very quickly, like 10 minutes.

If a trade violates a rule, the NBA can then veto the trade. Like Chris Paul to the LA Lakaers(although that is a very different technicality). Trading a signed FA would be a NBAPA issue, not a board issue.

Thanks for the run down. I wonder how it works when teams reach an agreement before they're allowed to trade players involved. Likes, if the Bulls agree to trade McDermott to Minnesota today, do they have to wait for the process you've described? What happens if teams make other moves assuming the there is a deal with McDermott during that interim period? What happens if, while waiting for the month to elapse, they make another deal with the Lakers involving McDermott? Is there promissory estoppel or detrimental reliance from Minnesota?
 

Crystallas

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They do a lot behind the backs of others.
 

czman

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The draft is the only time when teams agree before it can be official. The rest of the time the trades are not "agreed" upon til the trade can go be cleared by the league office.

Inherently what this means is teams don't submit trades till they know they can go through. It is very rare a team gets a trade pulled back. The Chris Paul trade was only vetoed because the NBA owned the team. It had nothing to do with breaking the rules.
 

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