Multiteam trades likely to become more commonplace thanks to new labor rules

The NBA trade deadline saw a marked rise in multiteam deals, with several of the season’s most high-profile moves requiring complex negotiations between three or more teams, wrote Jake Fischer of The Stein Line.

Notable transactions, including the swaps of Luka Doncic, Anthony Davis, Jimmy Butler, De’Aaron Fox, and Zach LaVine, all involved intricate multi-team arrangements.

The rise in these trades is not coincidental, Fisher wrote. Data compiled for The Stein Line shows that between the 2019-20 and 2023-2024 seasons, the average number of trades involving three or more teams has nearly doubled, rising to eight per season from 4.5 during the previous decade.

This uptick has continued into the 2024-25 season, fueled by the impact of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which introduced harsher luxury tax penalties.

Already, nine multi-team trades have occurred this season, with the trade deadline just behind, Fischer noted. Even if no more multiteam deals materialize before the June draft, more than a third of the 25 in-season trades that have occurred in 2024-25 have been structured across three or more teams.

“This is all becoming more complex,” one Eastern Conference executive told Fischer. “Teams need to make trades, and the tools they have to navigate the cap are changing.”

The NBA’s newly structured luxury tax system, featuring both a first and second apron, has added a layer of complexity, Fischer added. Teams must be increasingly creative in maneuvering under these new financial constraints, which are limiting the ability to acquire and offload players in traditional ways.

The Cavaliers, for instance, were able to acquire De’Andre Hunter from the Hawks only by carefully navigating the tax system and ensuring their trade did not push them over the limit.

Similarly, the Knicks have faced salary cap restrictions that have forced them to rely on 10-day contracts and two-way players, while the Mavericks, constrained by the first apron, have been unable to sign players to address mounting injury concerns, Fischer wrote.

The constraints have not hindered trade activity, however. Teams are becoming adept at managing the increasingly complicated financial landscape. A new trend is emerging: the use of salary cap exceptions, which were previously limited to free agent signings, now serving as tools in multi-team trade scenarios.

These exceptions have enabled teams like the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets to absorb contracts in exchange for draft capital, thus facilitating deals without exceeding their cap limits.

General managers are adapting to these new rules, and as the league becomes more intricate, the use of draft picks as currency and the strategic employment of cap exceptions are becoming commonplace.

The new rules, coupled with the continued evolution of salary cap management, suggest that the rise of multiteam trades is not a temporary shift but a long-term trend, Fischer wrote. Teams are finding innovative ways to stay competitive under financial pressure, and these complex deals may become a staple of future trade seasons.

As the NBA navigates its new financial landscape, fans can expect more high-stakes maneuvering as teams adapt to the changes brought on by the latest CBA.

The 2024-25 trade season has already shown that the game is becoming more intricate –and the future of NBA trades may be defined by these strategic, multifaceted deals.