Every year there is a transaction cycle in the NBA that begins in the draft and ends in the trade deadline. Speculation begins immediately after the season ends on a new group of players who are generally near the end of their contracts. Because of the static salary cap environment, players have trended towards signing extensions when they became eligible to. This has reduced speculation and general high-profile player movement over the past few years.
The NBA’s current transaction ended following the trade deadline and the next one is set to begin during the 2022 offseason. Most players who could sign extensions already did and several players seeking new homes were granted trades. For example, we got a rare climax to two highly publicized star trade requests when James Harden and Ben Simmons were moved for each other.
Here are several players whose situations could be worth monitoring next season. Most of these players have one or two years left on their current deals and will all become extension-eligible this offseason.
