Why are teams allowed to trade players while the season is still ongoing?

[Black Jack]

Bans on trades until end of finals would be fair.

[Ugly0598]

Because the NBA is a satanic joke.

[f4p]

How is this a disadvantage for the teams still playing? The trades have implications for the upcoming season and all of those teams' seasons are over, the teams in the Finals are still playing for the current season. Literally no disadvantage to them at all

I mean not being able to do something other teams can do kind of seems like the definition of a disadvantage.

[f4p]

I'm assuming the disadvantage the poster is suggesting is for adjusting their rosters for next season.

If a team like Indiana had the plan of trying to trade for Desmond Bane to improve their team next season, they don't get to be in play for that.

I suppose, but if Memphis FO really thought Indy had something they wanted they would just wait to make the trade until after the Finals

In a lot of cases you will be right, there can be scenarios like additional trades that are pending on this one, it can impact draft decisions, maybe a team is affraid that another trade goes off the table.

Here it only impacted 2 teams, but there were cases as mentioned with Horford where almost a quarter of the league was out as a potential trade candidate. One of the main complaints related to the Luka trade was that Dallas didn't even check offers with other teams, so it is also going a bit in this direction.

As some other posters mentioned, this is something that had almost no impact until now, so I see it more as the impact it could potentially have. Imagine something like the Luka/AD trade happening in the Playoffs after the Lakers just lost in the 1st round. So my perspective is more to change it before it becomes an issue.

As you can see from most of the responses in this thread, people really like to let something become a big problem instead of proactively fixing it and then also eventually complain that no one thought to fix it. "It's only sort of a problem so why do anything when doing anything requires essentially no effort" has always been such a weird take to me, whatever the subject.

[Snakebites]

How is this a disadvantage for the teams still playing? The trades have implications for the upcoming season and all of those teams' seasons are over, the teams in the Finals are still playing for the current season. Literally no disadvantage to them at all

I'm assuming the disadvantage the poster is suggesting is for adjusting their rosters for next season.

If a team like Indiana had the plan of trying to trade for Desmond Bane to improve their team next season, they don't get to be in play for that.

I suppose, but if Memphis FO really thought Indy had something they wanted they would just wait to make the trade until after the Finals

Yeah- this really is a non-issue.

Every team is on the hunt for the best possible deal. If either the Magic or Grizzlies felt they could get a better deal from the Pacers or Thunder for what they traded away then they would have waited.

[durden_tyler]

Let's push it further; allow teams to trade players at halftime or any point of the game. For example, Mathurin misses four straight free throws. Indiana should be able to ship him out for first round picks during a timeout. LOL

[Optms]

How is this a disadvantage for the teams still playing? The trades have implications for the upcoming season and all of those teams' seasons are over, the teams in the Finals are still playing for the current season. Literally no disadvantage to them at all

I'm assuming the disadvantage the poster is suggesting is for adjusting their rosters for next season.

If a team like Indiana had the plan of trying to trade for Desmond Bane to improve their team next season, they don't get to be in play for that.

Indiana doesn't need that advantage by being in the Finals competing for the title. Ludicrous logic.

You are telling me the top 2 teams in the league don't get first dibs or a chance at first dibs? Boo hoo hoo.

[Chuck Everett]

A team in the Finals could have already agreed to a trade in principle during the playoffs, but it doesn't get consummated until their season officially ends. Most draft night trades don't just happen in those hours. They were probably in the works for weeks.

[shrink]

I suppose, but if Memphis FO really thought Indy had something they wanted they would just wait to make the trade until after the Finals

In a lot of cases you will be right, there can be scenarios like additional trades that are pending on this one, it can impact draft decisions, maybe a team is affraid that another trade goes off the table.

Here it only impacted 2 teams, but there were cases as mentioned with Horford where almost a quarter of the league was out as a potential trade candidate. One of the main complaints related to the Luka trade was that Dallas didn't even check offers with other teams, so it is also going a bit in this direction.

As some other posters mentioned, this is something that had almost no impact until now, so I see it more as the impact it could potentially have. Imagine something like the Luka/AD trade happening in the Playoffs after the Lakers just lost in the 1st round. So my perspective is more to change it before it becomes an issue.

As you can see from most of the responses in this thread, people really like to let something become a big problem instead of proactively fixing it and then also eventually complain that no one thought to fix it. "It's only sort of a problem so why do anything when doing anything requires essentially no effort" has always been such a weird take to me, whatever the subject.

Yes, IND lost game 4, so let’s let them trade for Durant for Game 5. Same rules for all.

Alternately, prevent the entire NBA from making trades, and force them to wait an additional 4-6 weeks for no reason,

If this was a real problem, there would be real evidence. If the system was truly a big advantage, does the fact that almost no teams make trades during the playoffs, every year, really make sense to you?

[Daddy 801]

Seems like a non issue. Also seems like an easy change that wouldn’t affect anyone in reality, but if a team felt like it was an issue I think it would have been changed.

Teams know and work on trades for weeks. Hell….OKC and Indiana could already have trades in place that they will consummate in a week or so when the playoffs are done.

[Sofia]

Bans on trades until end of finals would be fair.

This only works if we assume NBA teams don’t talk to each other, which they certainly do.

They would have a trade in place but not make it official until after the Finals. That doesn’t stop the discussions when it gets leaked to the media while the series continues.

[dockingsched]

Does OP think the front offices for the pacers and OKC are on vacation not talking to other execs trying to see what is potentially out there?

[bkkrh]

I suppose, but if Memphis FO really thought Indy had something they wanted they would just wait to make the trade until after the Finals

In a lot of cases you will be right, there can be scenarios like additional trades that are pending on this one, it can impact draft decisions, maybe a team is affraid that another trade goes off the table.

Here it only impacted 2 teams, but there were cases as mentioned with Horford where almost a quarter of the league was out as a potential trade candidate. One of the main complaints related to the Luka trade was that Dallas didn't even check offers with other teams, so it is also going a bit in this direction.

As some other posters mentioned, this is something that had almost no impact until now, so I see it more as the impact it could potentially have. Imagine something like the Luka/AD trade happening in the Playoffs after the Lakers just lost in the 1st round. So my perspective is more to change it before it becomes an issue.

As you can see from most of the responses in this thread, people really like to let something become a big problem instead of proactively fixing it and then also eventually complain that no one thought to fix it. "It's only sort of a problem so why do anything when doing anything requires essentially no effort" has always been such a weird take to me, whatever the subject.

Yeah, actually pretty interesting. Generally used to it work related and also from some of the countries I lived in in the past. Think the interesting part is that in those cases it was mostly related to people wanting to avoid extra work, or seeing iit as a potential personal disadvantage. KInd of interesting though that people have this view also if it does not impact them personally, guess it's part of human nature.

[bkkrh]

In a lot of cases you will be right, there can be scenarios like additional trades that are pending on this one, it can impact draft decisions, maybe a team is affraid that another trade goes off the table.

Here it only impacted 2 teams, but there were cases as mentioned with Horford where almost a quarter of the league was out as a potential trade candidate. One of the main complaints related to the Luka trade was that Dallas didn't even check offers with other teams, so it is also going a bit in this direction.

As some other posters mentioned, this is something that had almost no impact until now, so I see it more as the impact it could potentially have. Imagine something like the Luka/AD trade happening in the Playoffs after the Lakers just lost in the 1st round. So my perspective is more to change it before it becomes an issue.

As you can see from most of the responses in this thread, people really like to let something become a big problem instead of proactively fixing it and then also eventually complain that no one thought to fix it. "It's only sort of a problem so why do anything when doing anything requires essentially no effort" has always been such a weird take to me, whatever the subject.

Yes, IND lost game 4, so let’s let them trade for Durant for Game 5. Same rules for all.

Alternately, prevent the entire NBA from making trades, and force them to wait an additional 4-6 weeks for no reason,

If this was a real problem, there would be real evidence. If the system was truly a big advantage, does the fact that almost no teams make trades during the playoffs, every year, really make sense to you?

Why do we then also not allow teams to resign their own players and have them wait 4-6 weeks for that?

Most rule changes in the league were related to situations that were not an issue for decades and were adressed when they became problematic/exploited.

The NBA didn't need a rule related to trading back to back 1st rounders for more than 30 years until Ted Stepien traded the 1st rounders for half a decade in about a season and the league needed to step in.

It was possible to sign rookies to long term deals without any restrictions on the salary until the mid 90s. The NBA implemented Rookie deals after after teams started to sign rookies to more and more insane deals. including Glenn Robinson signing a 10 year, 68 Million deal, after originally asking for 100 Million, which would have made him the first player in the league to sign a 100 Million Dollar contract.

Related to you mentioning Indiana being able to maka a trade during the Playoffs, this is the exact opposite of my idea, which is let the offseason start when the season is over, which is pretty much the most logical approach and how it works in a lot of other professional sports.

[bkkrh]

Does OP think the front offices for the pacers and OKC are on vacation not talking to other execs trying to see what is potentially out there?

I don't think that, but here a few situations that either aren't uncommon or possible:

- A potential contender loses in the 2nd round or conference finals in a way that makes it clear that they need to address a gap in the roster that wasn't viewed as urgent before
- One of their main players suffers a long term injury that changes the approach for the following season
- I already mentioned this previously, a team that is still in the playoffs agrees to a future trade or has trade talks and this information is leaked while they are still playing.

So teams that are not playing anymore have currently the benefit that they already have a clear understanding of what they need to address and are already able to take action.

To go again with the Al Horford example. There were multiple teams that went further in the Playoffs than Boston that had a gap at PF/C. Like Brooklyn, that had a bunch of older PFs and Cs that were on the decline and struggled with injuries. Teams like the Clippers or Utah either had undersized or inexperienced players.

Think it's not unrealistic to assume that those teams would have been interested to trade for a experienced, versatile big that has a tradeable contract and is also the most likely candidate to be available, since he currently is on a team that is rebuilding. But he was already traded before those teams could fully evaluate the need or give an official offer.

The other point that was brought up multiple times is that the potential trade partner could just wait with the trade. Theoretically right, but also here you have the risk of potential injuries, other potential trade partners pressuring to get the deal done now, or just that parts of the trade are supposed to be involved in addiitonal trades. In case of the Horford trade OKC received Boston's current pick and traded it 12 days later again on draft day. So most likely they used that time to shop it around already.

[Sign5]

...'Cause the season ended a little while ago. This is post season

[flow]

Of all the weird things that go on as well during the playoffs (regular season awards & draft lottery to name the other 2) this was always the most mind boggling to me. It is a huge disadvantage against teams that are still playing and can't make moves.

I don't see any benefit or good reason on why this is actually possible. From my perspective trades should only be possible from the day after the last finals game onwards, which is also the first day that teams can negotiate with their own free agents.

Agree.

The NFL does it the right way, as per usual. The NFL has a hard calendar separating seasons. Once the trade deadline hits (11/5/24), no trades of any kind can be made until the opening date of the next league season (3/12/25). That's how it should be in the NBA. The only thing happening during playoff time is the playoffs. If your team's been eliminated, you can just sit & stew/reflect and take notes/appreciate the teams that are still alive and doing better than you did. The sole focus of the (any) league during the postseason should be the postseason tournament and the crowning of a champion. with no side-show distractions. Then, once the champion is crowned, the season is closed and there's a month or so of nothing as the champion reaps the spoils and everything rests.


.

[og15]

How is this a disadvantage for the teams still playing? The trades have implications for the upcoming season and all of those teams' seasons are over, the teams in the Finals are still playing for the current season. Literally no disadvantage to them at all

I'm assuming the disadvantage the poster is suggesting is for adjusting their rosters for next season.

If a team like Indiana had the plan of trying to trade for Desmond Bane to improve their team next season, they don't get to be in play for that.

Indiana doesn't need that advantage by being in the Finals competing for the title. Ludicrous logic.

You are telling me the top 2 teams in the league don't get first dibs or a chance at first dibs? Boo hoo hoo.

It's not an advantage for the finals teams to have something everyone else also does. An advantage would be something you have that others don't. This would just be a level playing field.

Whether or not they "need" it isn't the question either, but no, it is not an advantage for them, lol

Actually from the NBA standpoint, their bigger concern should be that there shouldn't be any other news outside of the playoffs during playoff time. Not sure why I would even want trades which can distract the discussion from your current games.

[Onlytimewilltel]

How is this a disadvantage for the teams still playing? The trades have implications for the upcoming season and all of those teams' seasons are over, the teams in the Finals are still playing for the current season. Literally no disadvantage to them at all

I'm assuming the disadvantage the poster is suggesting is for adjusting their rosters for next season.

If a team like Indiana had the plan of trying to trade for Desmond Bane to improve their team next season, they don't get to be in play for that.

Exactly, it’s not really rocket science.

[Onlytimewilltel]

Of all the weird things that go on as well during the playoffs (regular season awards & draft lottery to name the other 2) this was always the most mind boggling to me. It is a huge disadvantage against teams that are still playing and can't make moves.

I don't see any benefit or good reason on why this is actually possible. From my perspective trades should only be possible from the day after the last finals game onwards, which is also the first day that teams can negotiate with their own free agents.

Agree.

The NFL does it the right way, as per usual. The NFL has a hard calendar separating seasons. Once the trade deadline hits (11/5/24), no trades of any kind can be made until the opening date of the next league season (3/12/25). That's how it should be in the NBA. The only thing happening during playoff time is the playoffs. If your team's been eliminated, you can just sit & stew/reflect and take notes/appreciate the teams that are still alive and doing better than you did. The sole focus of the (any) league during the postseason should be the postseason tournament and the crowning of a champion. with no side-show distractions. Then, once the champion is crowned, the season is closed and there's a month or so of nothing as the champion reaps the spoils and everything rests.


.

Have to agree here. NFL does a lot of things right.