A vital tool within the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement is the trade exception. While it come in many flavors, allowing teams to take back salary in return for outgoing players, the Standard Traded Player Exception (STPE) is the type that lasts a full calendar year.

For teams that are under the first apron ($178,132,000 for the 2024-25 season), the STPE can be used to take in up to $250,000 more than its value. For instance, a $10 million STPE can bring back a player earning up to $10,250,000 in salaries. Or it can be used to take back two players earning $5,250,000 each (as separate transactions).

Franchises above the first apron don’t get that extra $250,000 in padding, so a $10 million STPE can bring back a player earning up to $10 million. Additionally, after the season, teams above the first apron cannot use any preexisting trade exceptions.

Starting with in 2024-25, teams will be able to use their Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Salary Exception (NTMLE), Mid-Level Salary Exception for Room Teams (RMLE) and Bi-annual Exception (BAE) as if they were trade exceptions, provided they are under the first apron.

Trade exceptions cannot be combined. The following is the current list of NBA TPEs. Also included are any Disabled Player Exceptions (DPE), which can only be used to acquire a single player whose contract expires after the 204-25 season.

For teams that were over the first apron in 2043-25, their preexisting trade exceptions are unusable [X]. Additionally, teams above the second apron cannot use a TPE generated by a player going out via sign-and-trade (also marked with an [X]).

Team Amount Expiring Player
Atlanta Hawks $3,712,920 6/27/25 AJ Griffin
  $25,266,266 7/7/25 Dejounte Murray
Boston Celtics $89,025 [X] 2/7/25 Lamar Stevens
  $2,019,706 [X] 2/10/25 Dalano Banton
Brooklyn Nets $1,324,293 2/10/25 Spencer Dinwiddie
  $3,366,995 2/10/25 Royce O’Neale
  $23,300,000 7/7/25 Mikal Bridges
  $2,654,644 7/7/25 Keita Bates-Diop
  $1,392,150 7/21/25 Mamadi Diakite
Chicago Bulls $2,872,960 6/23/25 Alex Caruso
  $17,506,232 7/8/25 DeMar DeRozan
Dallas Mavericks $4,000,000 2/10/25 Seth Curry
  $16,193,183 7/7/25 Tim Hardaway Jr.
Denver Nuggets $1,532,820 3/10/25 DaRon Holmes II (DPE)
  $5,250,000 7/7/25 Reggie Jackson
Golden State Warriors $2,019,706 2/10/25 Cory Joseph
Indiana Pacers $159,471 2/10/25 Buddy Hield
Memphis Grizzlies $12,600,000 2/3/25 Steven Adams
  $1,930,681 2/7/25 Xavier Tillman Sr.
  $2,718,240 2/10/25 David Roddy
  $6,133,005 7/21/25 Ziaire Williams
Miami Heat $6,477,319 [X] 1/23/25 Kyle Lowry
Milwaukee Bucks $2,019,706 [X] 2/10/25 Robin Lopez
  $2,019,706 [X] 2/10/25 Cameron Payne
Minnesota Timberwolves $4,000,000 [X] 2/10/25 Troy Brown Jr.
  $8,780,488 [X] 7/7/25 Kyle Anderson
  $2,537,040 7/7/25 Wendell Moore Jr.
  $4,686,880 10/2/25 Karl-Anthony Towns
New Orleans Pelicans $5,722,116 1/17/25 Kira Lewis Jr.
  $9,900,000 7/7/25 Jonas Valančiūnas
New York Knicks $5,241,072 12/30/24 RJ Barrett
  $3,873,025 2/10/25 Malachi Flynn
Phoenix Suns $726,547 7/29/25 David Roddy
Portland Trail Blazers $6,875,000 7/7/25 Malcolm Brogdon
Sacramento Kings $6,341,464 6/30/25 Sasha Vezenkov
  $547,640 6/30/25 Davion Mitchell
  $5,893,768 7/8/25 Chris Duarte
  $4,741,800 10/15/25 Jalen McDaniels
Toronto Raptors $1,379,527 12/30/24 Precious Achiuwa
  $5,107,652 1/17/25 Pascal Siakam
  $1,607,916 2/10/25 Kira Lewis Jr.
Utah Jazz $2,924,340 3/10/25 Taylor Hendricks (DPE)
Washington Wizards $3,500,000 1/14/25 Mike Muscala
  $12,402,000 2/10/25 Daniel Gafford

Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on X/Twitter @EricPincus.

(Updated on 11/17/24)