RealGM

Ok here's my question.
If someone is able to opt out of their contract (for instance Corey Magette) can that team trade him say on draft night? Technically they're still under contract until they opt-out so therefore they can be traded. Then that would basically be immediate cap-relief for the team that traded for (Corey Magette) if he were to opt out the June 30th right after the draft which is June 26th?

Does that make sense haha?

The player CANNOT be traded if the ETO is still exercisable. But if it is declined or expires, they can be traded.

You can make trades again as of the day that your season ends, by either missing the playoffs or being eliminated from the. But you can't trade players between now and the start of next season (July 1st + moratorium) whose contracts are either ending this offseason, or which could do via an option.

So the only way to deal Maggette on draft night is to ask him really nicely to decline his ETO. And that seems unlikely.

Other than Memphis and Philly, I don't believe that there are any teams that can offer Maggette more than $7M for next year. And I'm not sure that either would pursue him or that he would want to play for either of them. So he may decide it's in his best interest not to opt out.

So if there was a team that Maggette wanted to go to and the Clippers could make a deal with that team, it's possible that Maggette could inform the league prior to the draft that he was declining to exercise his option, thus allowing the Clippers to trade him.

Dunkenstein wrote:Other than Memphis and Philly, I don't believe that there are any teams that can offer Maggette more than $7M for next year...

Per earlier analysis http://realgm.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=766493

Memphis, Philly, and maybe Seattle have room. Miami, Charlotte, Chi, and GS might also have room depending on other choices.

If Maggette is a major bargain at $7M (and I suspect he is), he's be smart to opt out. It only takes one team with money - even if he doesn't want to sign there - to motivate LAC to pay him what he's worth.

ESPN Insider did an analysis a few months ago. Of all the players with ETOs, it was stated that Maggette was the most likely of all to exercise the option - primarily because of his low salary