When is the 2021 NBA Trade Deadline?

The NBA sets a trade deadline every season to mark a date limit for teams who want to make deals to bolster their line-ups for the present or the near future. For the 2020-21 season, the league set the trade deadline date for March 25, about two weeks after the start of the second half of the regular season (March 11).

Many of the NBA’s top teams such as the LA Lakers, LA Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers could tweak their rosters to improve their chances at winning the title this year.

The Brooklyn Nets have made the biggest trade of the season so far when they acquired All-Star guard James Harden from the Houston Rockets on January 13. That trade involved four NBA teams including the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers, but fans can expect more trades to occur in the weeks to come.

FULL TRADE DETAILS, per @ShamsCharaniaNets get:◻️ James HardenRockets get:◻️ Oladipo◻️ Exum◻️ Kurucs◻️ 3 BKN first-rounders◻️ 1 MIL first◻️ 4 BKN 1st-round swapsPacers get:◻️ Caris LeVert◻️ 2nd-rounderCavs get:◻️ Jarrett Allen◻️ Taurean Prince pic.twitter.com/esGgmHULmI

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 13, 2021

Harden might be the most high-profile player in the trade market but anything can happen from now until the NBA’s trade deadline.

Among the hot names on the trade market are Kevin Love, Andre Drummond, Bradley Beal, Derrick Rose and P.J. Tucker. And if things don't work out with the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving could be on the way out.

Players signed in the offseason have restrictions prior to the NBA trade deadline

Andre Drummond #3 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on against the Miami Heat during second half at American Airlines Arena on February 22, 2020 (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

On February 6, a majority of free agents who were signed in the last offseason will be eligible to be traded. This means that there is likely going to be a flurry of trading activity between teams from that date all the way to the NBA’s March 25 deadline.

NBA Players With Trade Kickers In 2020/21 https://t.co/uxGquijPPa pic.twitter.com/j6YvIz17DJ

— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) January 12, 2021

There’s also a March 3 trade restriction set by the league for free agents who signed with their current team (whether with Bird or early Bird rights) on a contract that’s 120 percent more than what they signed for the previous season.

Here is a definition, via hoopsrumors.com, of Bird rights or Bird exception:

“The Bird exception, named after Larry Bird, is a rule included in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement that allows teams to go over the salary cap to re-sign their own players. A player who qualifies for the Bird exception, formally referred to as a Qualifying Veteran Free Agent, is said to have ‘Bird rights.’”

There are also free agents who were signed after December 15 but the NBA has different timetables for these players to determine the lifting of their signing restriction. There are also players who have other restrictions aside from the February 6 or March 6 restrictions set by the NBA.

Once the NBA trade deadline passes, teams can only make adjustments to their rosters by signing free agents or claiming players who were waived by their teams.

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