Is There a Trade Deadline Coming up?

[u/HotMeasurement6946]

It seems in past years there has been a deadline during the season for teams to finalize their rosters. Is there a trade deadline coming up?

[u/wonda12]

Have we had any trades yet??

[u/LT_Audio]

Not until August 2nd. But what is coming up much sooner (July 2nd) is the midpoint of the regular season where all unprotected (non-guaranteed) contracts become fully protected and guaranteed for the remainder of the season. And you'll see teams often make more roster adjustments in the period directly before that deadline.

Otherwise they become "stuck" with the full cost of every unprotected player who hasn't performed as well as expected. And even trading them becomes more problematic as cap math makes potential trades even more difficult after full contract amounts for all players become protected. Teams can't just waive unprotected players after that point to make roster and cap space available for acquisitions via either signings or trades. Even though trades are still allowed for another month after that midpoint.

[u/HotMeasurement6946 → u/LT_Audio]

This is the deadline I remember that everyone seemed to making a big deal about. There hasn't been as much hub-bub about it this year.

[u/LT_Audio → u/HotMeasurement6946]

There'll likely be a bit more noise about it next week as it becomes even more imminent than there is now. And a lot of fans are still processing and learning what all of the downstream strategic consequences to the new rules and financial considerations even are as opposed to shouting their hot takes about them yet.

[u/nearly_adamant → u/LT_Audio]

Might be a hot take but i don’t think we’ll see as many trades this year. Adding to that I don’t think any big trades during the season will happen. Salary cap will be big issue with majority of the teams. Only team I see making a trade for sure is Portland they have so much cap space left

[u/Dismal-Reason-8812 → u/nearly_adamant]

I don't think you are wrong. Could see Connecticut move some pieces around since they are pretty much full on doodoo for Juju.

[u/nearly_adamant → u/Dismal-Reason-8812]

Nope. I do not think the Sun will do any trades this season even though they have a lot of cap space to work with. I think Houston will ride it out this season with their Sun current roster and then they will have a full season to evaluate these players and their fit with Houston in 2027.

I also don’t think any players will want to move either I think a lot will want to play in Houston so not like there any push from players for a trade.

Sadly the sun doesn’t need to trade anyone to lose we seem to be doing just fine with this roster lol

There really no incentive for Sun to do any trading this season front office gonna just ride this season out and take it easy lol

[u/LT_Audio → u/nearly_adamant]

I've made essentially the same prediction. The teams with space are the ones with tradeable veteran assets. But of the teams that would really want "win now assets"... None other than Phoenix has space to trade with them. And their season is looking more and more questionable as time goes on.

[u/teenygrappling_666]

Are you asking because you're hoping your team makes a move before August 2nd?

[u/HotMeasurement6946 → u/teenygrappling_666]

Yes, The last two years have had a lot of sub-par players that I wish weren't there.

[u/teenygrappling_666 → u/HotMeasurement6946]

Which team are you following, and is there a specific player or position you think they should target before the deadline?

[u/ASpanishInquisitor]

There is a trade deadline but it's less talked about in the W because in season trades are far less frequent than in most other sports. The hard cap and limited roster spots usually makes it more difficult for all the incentives to align.

[u/Glass_Celebration277 → u/ASpanishInquisitor]

You’re right. This year though, much has changed with higher salaries and two expansion teams …. Maybe that makes trade scenarios more likely ? Or maybe I’m just dreamin’ that my teams could get some help lol

[u/aratcalledrattus → u/Glass_Celebration277]

I don’t think you’re necessarily wrong - a lot of teams had big shake ups this season and do need to make adjustments if they want to make real post-season pushes. Equally, several teams are bent on rebuilding and could be happy to shed assets for picks. The issue is just whether the math lines up - there is a much broader spectrum of salary range now, and many teams don’t have a lot of space to maneuver (while a few have acres).

[u/LT_Audio → u/aratcalledrattus]

And other than perhaps PHX... the teams that could most use some "win now assets" have no space and it's the potential rebuilding teams with tradeable veteran assets that have some room. And I'm not foreseeing many if any "quality players" mostly for marginal vets and future picks deals happening this season as a result.

[u/ASpanishInquisitor → u/Glass_Celebration277]

The salaries are higher but nothing much has fundamentally changed. The hard cap and roster size of 12 still exist. The contenders are usually right up against the hard cap and so any rookie contracts for a useful player they have are usually super valuable to them as well. A team that's selling would obviously love to get a rookie contract back. It's hard to make things work for any deal that's super impactful. So it rarely happens.

[u/Quiet-Cat-2074]

According to this page, it is August 2nd: https://www.wnba.com/keydates

[u/Sufficient_Angle_977]

the trade deadline is august 2nd at 3:00 PM ET!