RealGM

The salary cap states this:

A team cannot reacquire a player they traded away during that season (a season being July 1 - June 30). If he is waived by his new team, then he cannot re-sign with his original team until the one-year anniversary of the trade, or until the July 1 following the end of his contract, whichever comes first. However, if a team trades a player's draft rights, they can reacquire the player during the same season.
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Assuming there are no exceptions to this rule, IMO it's a shame there's no exception for young players. The idea of this rule is to stop vets like Ilgauskas from returning to their old teams in pre-arranged deals after being waived by their new teams as a courtesy. But what about players that are legitimately unwanted? I differ from many Celtics fans in thinking that JaJuan Johnson still has a future in the NBA; the Celtics have roster spots and I think he'd be a great fit and worth re-acquiring and developing. But, despite the fact that JJJ is stuck in the d-league, I don't think the Celtics would be allowed to bring him back until next year (if they share my opinion of him.)

Is there any room for appeal of this rule in a situation like this?

No chance. The Celtics traded him away and forfeited any shot at him for the rest of the season. That rule is there for just such a reason.

FWIW, letting him stay in the D-league and develop is probably the best shot he has at eventually becoming NBA-playable. If the Celtics got him back now, he'd still land in the D-league, since it's his best route to playing and improving. But the Celtics would have to pay him to do so, so it's to their advantage NOT to sign him..

After the season ends, he'll still be out there, and if they want him back, they can get him back in the summer. There are 29 teams with no restrictions, and none seem to have any apparent interest.

DBoys wrote:No chance. The Celtics traded him away and forfeited any shot at him for the rest of the season. That rule is there for just such a reason.

FWIW, letting him stay in the D-league and develop is probably the best shot he has at eventually becoming NBA-playable.

You're probably right on everything else, but I strongly disagree that "that rule is there for just such a reason." That rule is there to prevent wink-wink deals where a semi-valuable veteran gets waived as a courtesy and returns to its former team. It's not designed to block D-league callups to the former team- that potentially hurts a marginal, otherwise unwanted young player.

The rule has dual purposes. Before there was a desire to prohibit a player from being waived and going back to the old team, there was a rule to prohibit being traded back. Now it's somewhat encapsulated all together. The principle is that once you decide to send a player away, he's no longer an option for you for the rest of that NBA year, which not only closes all kinds of potential loopholes for shenanigans, but it also makes sense.

As for JJ, he isn't being hurt. You are blowing past the glaring truth that there is no block on him being "called up" to the NBA by 29 teams, if someone wants him. The actual impediment is that he's not NBA ready. And he was paid in full for the entire season, despite being so mediocre that a team is paying him not to be on their roster, so he's way ahead financially.

DBoys wrote:\The principle is that once you decide to send a player away, he's no longer an option for you for the rest of that NBA year, which not only closes all kinds of potential loopholes for shenanigans, but it also makes sense.

As for JJ, he isn't being hurt. You are blowing past the glaring truth that there is no block on him being "called up" to the NBA by 29 teams, if someone wants him.

Disagree that it makes sense for young players. I see no sense in restricting the availablity of a young marginal player - there is little risk for shenanigans in this situation, and the whole point of this kind of rule is eliminating shenanigans.

You're probably right about JJJ's real problem being not NBA ready, but that isn't really relevant. My point is that a D-league player in this situation's chance for a call up is now reduced by 3 pct since 1 out of 30 teams is eliminated - and more importantly that may be a team that is his best fit, as that team liked him enough to draft him and he already has experience in that system.

It's a only very slight disadvantage to the player in this situation, but I think it's real and an unfortunate unintended consequence of an otherwise well-intentioned and useful rule.