A little known CBA rule became a big deal last season when, on this date 12 months ago, the Golden State Warriors acquired Dennis Schroder before moving him again in the blockbuster Jimmy Butler trade at the February deadline.
There's now a major watch on whether teams will undertake a similar ploy in the next 24 hours, allowing them the flexibility to trade players again before the deadline if needed. However, don't expect the Warriors to repeat what they did with Schroder, having had their flexibility ruined to some degree by Jonathan Kuminga's free agency drama during the offseason.
Jonathan Kuminga's free agency delays Warriors trade flexibility
While a host of teams around the league can now move the free agents they signed in the offseason, Golden State don't have any more flexibility than what they previously had when it comes to their own players.
Many are rightfully looking at the fact Kuminga isn't trade eligible until January 15, but the free agency stalemate we saw has also put a delay on other players that the Warriors eventually signed just before the season.
Because three months have yet to pass since Golden State signed the likes of Al Horford, De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II, those players are still ineligible to be traded until the start of next month. That means the Warriors are hampered in terms of pulling off the sort of move we saw with Melton and Schroder this time last year.
What if the Warriors wanted to trade Payton and draft capital for Keon Ellis? Well they can't do that yet. What if they wanted to include Horford's salary in a sizeable move given the veteran center has had little impact and is currently dealing with injury? They can't do that yet either.
This isn't to say Golden State are completely out of the trade landscape at this second. They could move the likes of Buddy Hield, Moses Moody and Brandin Podziemski, while Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green can also be traded albeit highly unlikely. These players could bring back someone in the next 24 hours who could again be traded at the deadline if things don't pan out.
Yet with the Kuminga piece hanging over everything, and his free agency preventing Horford, Melton and Payton from being moved, it's extremely unlikely that the Warriors make an imminent deal. Rather they'll almost assuredly continue to evaluate their team and the trade landscape, then really ramp up once Kuminga and others are officially trade eligible next month.