RealGM

As a Trade Board mod, I see this all the time, and was hoping for a little expertise.

We all know that a player whose contract is expiring cannot be traded between season's end and his FA date. (Example: Antawn Jamison's contract expires this year, so the Wizards cannot trade him unless they S&T him in July, when free agency begins.)

What about players with player options? Rasho Nesterovic has a player option for '08-09...but he can't actually exercise it until July 1, right? If that's the case, he's not officially under contract next year at this point. So technically, is he an expiring? Can he therefore not be traded after season's end?

And what about players with ETOs, like Corey Maggette? It's my understanding that the ETO opts OUT of a contract...therefore he is under contract unless he states otherwise July 1. Can he be traded in June? Or do I misunderstand the situation? (Of course, there is a practical side to this...why would you trade for a guy in June when he can just opt out a week later and leave you with nothing but capspace. I'm just wondering about the legality of it under the CBA.)

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help.

Between the end of the season and July 1st, you can't trade players whose contracts either:

a) expire, or
b) which could expire via an option.

So, no, players with options can't be traded.

But if the player opts in (or if the team has a team option and exercises it) as a concurrent part of the trade, then they can be dealt - this happened to Eric Williams in the Rasho to Toronto trade of whenever the hell it was.

(Your premise of "can't exercise it until July 1st" is wrong. Players (and teams) can exercise options at any point up to June 30th (or the 25th in one instance that I can't be othered to explain). They don't have to wait until the last minute. They just tend to. Fred Jones, for example, signed a three year deal with a player option on the third year, but declined the third year before the first had even finished, because Portland asked him nicely to do so when they traded for him. Portland then stiffed him by trading him on to the Knicks. This is generally why players waot until the last minute.)

I think I've read that Fred Jones was ASKED to waive his player option in order to get traded to NY. Even as a throw in. He did just that. He wasn't screwed up or anything like that by the Blazers.

On the second thought, maybe you're right.

I won't bother to check it out whether it happened when he was traded to NY or to POR.

All in all, he wasn't forced to do it. He agreed to waive his right in order to get in the better situation with another team.

Nowhere did I say that he was forced to do it. I even specifically used the phrase "because Portland asked him nicely".

Excellent. Thank you, Sham.