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Although it feels like we were just in the Disney World Bubble, the unofficial start to the 2020-21 NBA season is here with the opening of the league’s trade window. Teams can officially make deals starting at 12:00 pm Eastern:
Trade season begins Monday afternoon, sources tell ESPN. Teams were informed the NBA’s moratorium will end at noon ET and deals can begin to be consummated.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
Despite the “moratorium,” which we know teams would never violate in a million years, we somehow already know that the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder have agreed to a deal sending Dennis Schroder to LA in exchange for Danny Green and the 28th overall pick in Wednesday night’s draft:
Lakers guard Danny Green and the No. 28 overall pick have been a focus of the trade discussions for Schroder, sources tell ESPN. https://t.co/KOAcjyIked
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
Then, another deal involving Brooklyn and Detroit hit the wire earlier this morning. Golden State was famously light years ahead, but these teams must have traveled into the future to be able to make these trades before the moratorium ended:
The Detroit Pistons are trading G Bruce Brown to the Brooklyn Nets for F Dzanan Musa and a 2021 second-round pick, sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 16, 2020
While we await whatever other trades might go down, an important component to keep in mind is that the salary cap and luxury tax figures are the same as last season:
Sources: $109.1M salary cap and $132.6M luxury tax for 2020-2021 season. Same as last season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 15, 2020
As a reminder, the Sixers are well over the salary cap just accounting for their four highest-paid players. Philadelphia, Golden State, Boston, and Brooklyn are the only teams currently set to pay luxury tax. Ownership for these clubs (and any others that ultimately wind up over the tax line) did receive a break in that the NBA and NBPA agreed to reduce tax payments at a rate identical to the decrease in Basketball Related Income. As a result, the Sixers and other taxpaying teams will have their tax payments reduced by 30 percent. If that new reality helps give Daryl Morey the freedom to build the best roster he can regardless of price, all the better.
The Sixers are in an unenviable position in terms of their cap sheet, but there is still plenty of top talent on the roster, and having Morey in the fold provides the sense of optimism surrounding this offseason that didn’t exist a few weeks ago. Follow along in the comments as we see not only whether Daryl can work his magic, but also what the rest of the league has in store as the craziness of this condensed offseason gets underway.