What are NBA Teams doing at the Trade Deadline?
Working in the NBA
There is something about deadlines that makes things get done.
Deadlines create a sense of urgency and are a powerful motivator to prioritize and complete tasks.
And just like that is true in life, it is the same with the NBA Trade Deadline.
GM’s are talking all through the year, through Summer League, into Training Camp and keeping tabs on each other’s situations throughout the season. But once it gets close to the deadline, that’s when movement starts to happen.
One of the things that makes it hard to make a trade in-season is the ever-wondering, ‘is there a better trade out there?,’ ‘could we get more if we waited?’ And so what happens? Nearly every team waits until the last minute. Until everyone’s cards are on the table. And then a flurry of activity takes place with each team hoping to squeeze their deal in before the deadline (fun fact: not all deals agreed on between teams make it through the NBA Trade protocol – the deadline is real).
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As an NBA Video Coordinator, the trade season was always one of the busiest times for us. You’re in the middle of the season getting ready for the next opponent, the Draft is coming closer and closer, but there are around 20-30 scenarios to be prepared for at the Deadline.
As a VC, I would typically know around 20 players we were targeting at the deadline so I would have film ready and available on each. But it’s not quite that simple either.
For an example, as the Trail Blazers looked to acquire Jusuf Nurkic, there were 3 groups to prepare film for. The Front Office wanted to see where his career started (overseas), how he has progressed, what he’s done recently, how he has fared in playoff-caliber matchups, and how he has fared against top competition. A second group to prepare for is the coaching staff: how will this player fit on the roster, what will his role be with the team, what kind of sets does he play out of well, what are the things he can / can’t do on the court, how will he affect team chemistry. A third group is Ownership. As a VC, you are mainly acting on behalf of the GM to ‘sell’ the player to the Owner. If the GM is targeting player X for the roster, your job is to show ownership the player in a positive light: what is he capable of, highlights, shooting range, dunks / athleticism.
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As the GM’s talk trades and go through scenarios, not only are they going to Ownership for approval, there are others on staff they need to go through. Specifically, the Medical Department and the Salary Cap Specialist. The medical department will go through the player’s history of injuries and games missed and project out the player’s health moving forward, commonly with what are known as green, yellow, and red flags. The Salary Cap Analyst will not only provide the details of how this trade will affect the current roster (luxury tax / second apron) but project out how the move will affect the team the next season and beyond. How does not having a 1st round pick affect the cap next season? How does adding a 2nd round pick affect the cap? What range are we willing to pay this player in Free Agency? How does adding this player affect who we can target in Free Agency?
And as always, as a GM, you have to fit the trade into whatever objectives team ownership has set out for you which can vary from… Win at all costs! Get under the cap. No second apron. You can move anyone but Player X. Don’t move anyone from our core. Blow it up.
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And now imagine playing each scenario out for 20-30 players. It’s a lot of work, a lot of meetings, a lot of conversation. But the thing is, these NBA positions have spreadsheets they’ve been updating daily season after season to more easily move players around and offer projections. Scouts are continually gathering information and intel and adding games missed and injuries to databases from the time players are in high school. Video Coordinators are breaking down film daily preparing for opponents, the draft, the trade deadline, and free agency. And medical departments are continually updating their own databases with player’s health history.
Fun fact of Video Coordinators preparing for the Trade Deadline… one of the things you might not expect is that a lot of their Trade Deadline work is preparing video compilations of the top unsigned free agents, available overseas players, and G-League players that are not under contract with an NBA team. Movement at the trade deadline always leaves open roster spots and teams have to be ready to snatch up their top options as soon as they have an open spot. GM’s are not typically scouring for 14th and 15th men throughout the season so they will rely heavily on their scouting department for who to add to those spots.
We could go on and on about the Trade Deadline and Trade Process… but that is what our Courses are for… where we let you ask the ?’s and lead the discussion!
For our next GITG101 Course, we have our most immersive experience yet with NBA Medical Trainer, Kendra Chaney, and NBA Salary Cap Expert, Yossi Gozlan providing insights and approvals / disapprovals for your trades. As a GM in the Course, you’ll go through Kendra and Yossi to complete your trades. We will have NBA Personnel Guest Speakers and then go over the trades that have been made in class.
The Course is slated for Jan 29, Feb 5, Feb 6 and all classes are recorded if you can not be there live for all sessions. Classes are from 5-7p PT / 8-10p ET.
Trades and dialogue will take place on Slack throughout the week. Use Promo Code: NBATRADE for $30 off. Once you sign up, you’ll get an e-mail from me to have you select which NBA Team you would like to be the GM of for the Course.
E-mail us with any ?’s at info@getinthegame101.com (First come, first serve on the team you are the GM of!)
I chose to sign up for the course to learn more about the NBA, learn more about team departments and decision-making, and expand my connections within the industry.
The journey is LONG. Hearing from so many different people about their pathway to working in the NBA was incredible, and the main thing they had in common was the amount of sacrifices they made in order to get to where they were.
You will learn a lot and have a lot of fun in the process. Can't ask for much more than that!