NBA

$19.5 Million in Cash Swapped in 2015-16

Eric Pincus looks at how NBA teams have used cash in trades over the last two years.

Alan Draper profile picture
Sports Editor
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Prior to the NBA’s 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams could send up to $3 million in cash out in trade multiple times a season.

To level the playing field, limiting higher-budget franchises, teams are separately capped in the amount of money they can both send out and receive over the course of a season (from July 1 to June 30).  Last year’s limit was $3.4 million; the maximum for the 2016-17 season is $3.5 million.

Teams include cash in trades for a variety of reasons, including purchasing draft picks, avoiding luxury taxes (by moving off unwanted contracts) or facilitating a deal that simply needs a little extra push.

Collectively, teams swapped $19,489,635 through the 2015-16 season (July 1 through June 30).  That’s a $2 million increase over the $17,428,653 traded during the 2014-15 season.

Four franchises (the Miami HEAT, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder) spent the maximum of $3.4 million. The Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics and Utah Jazz were all close to the other end of the spectrum, receiving at least $3 million apiece.

Miami used their cash (in just a few of their many transactions to get under the luxury tax threshold) to pay the Celtics $1.6 million to take Zoran Dragic, $1.1 million to the Magic with Shabazz Napier and $721,300 to deal Jarnell Stokes to the New Orleans Pelicans.

The HEAT actually received $75,000 in a deal to send Brian Roberts’ salary on the Portland Trail Blazers.  Portland paid the minimum in cash allowed, in lieu of trading a player or future pick.

The Blazers also paid out $75,000 in a similar transaction with the Cavaliers, to help Cleveland move Brendan Haywood into Portland’s cap space.

Cleveland sent $934,614 with Joe Harris to the Magic, helping to reduce their luxury tax bill.  In June, the Cavaliers spent $2.5 million to acquire the 54th pick from the Atlanta Hawks, drafting Kay Felder – who has since signed a three-year, $2.5 million deal (with $1 million guaranteed over the next two seasons).

Portland paid just under half that amount, sending $1.2 million to the Magic, for the 47th pick in order to select Jake Layman (who signed for three years at $2.6 million, with $1.5 million guaranteed).

The Blazers seemingly got a steal at that price, given the Nets sent $3 million and the 55th pick (Marcus Paige) to the Utah Jazz for the 42nd pick (Isiah Whitehead).  Whitehead signed for four years at $4.6 million – his first two seasons at $2.2 million are fully guaranteed.

Golden State sent out $2.4 million to the Milwaukee Bucks to buy the 38th pick, drafting Patrick McCaw, whose two-year, $1.4 million contract is fully guaranteed.  The Warriors also paid $1 million to the Philadelphia 76ers to take on Jason Thompson’s contract.

The Thunder spent $730,441 to buy the 56th pick from the Denver Nuggets to draft Daniel Hamilton, who has yet to sign a contract.  The Thunder also paid the Nuggets $1.2 million at the trade deadline in the deal that brought Randy Foye to Oklahoma City.  The Thunder also sent $1.5 million to the Celtics to dump the contract of Perry Jones III.

Netting $16,921, the Houston Rockets were paid $456,921 by the Los Angeles Clippers to take on Josh Smith, while Houston sent $440,000 to the Nuggets for Ty Lawson.

Last summer, the Knicks paid the Magic $100,000 to help facilitate the sign and trade of Kyle O’Quinn to New York.

Finally, the Memphis Grizzlies sent $542,714 to the Charlotte Hornets in their Courtney Lee deal.

The following details the final tally in cash transactions for the 2015-16 season:

Team Spent Received
Cleveland Cavaliers $3,400,000 $75,000
Miami HEAT $3,400,000 $75,000
Golden State Warriors $3,400,000 $0
Oklahoma City Thunder $3,400,000 $0
Brooklyn Nets $3,000,000 $0
Portland Trail Blazers $1,350,000 $0
Memphis Grizzlies $542,714 $0
Los Angeles Clippers $456,921 $0
Houston Rockets $440,000 $456,921
New York Knicks $100,000 $0
Chicago Bulls $0 $0
Dallas Mavericks $0 $0
Detroit Pistons $0 $0
Indiana Pacers $0 $0
Los Angeles Lakers $0 $0
Minnesota Timberwolves $0 $0
Phoenix Suns $0 $0
Sacramento Kings $0 $0
San Antonio Spurs $0 $0
Toronto Raptors $0 $0
Washington Wizards $0 $0
Charlotte Hornets $0 $542,714
New Orleans Pelicans $0 $721,300
Philadelphia 76ers $0 $1,000,000
Denver Nuggets $0 $2,340,000
Milwaukee Bucks $0 $2,400,000
Atlanta Hawks $0 $2,465,386
Utah Jazz $0 $3,000,000
Boston Celtics $0 $3,100,000
Orlando Magic $0 $3,313,314

Miami was also a big spender through the 2014-15 season, as were the Rockets, Nets and Thunder. The Pelicans, 76ers, Jazz and Suns each received at least $2.1 million, as previously detailed by Basketball Insiders.

The Jazz have been the biggest beneficiary of cash trades over the past couple of seasons, taking in $5.8 million.

The following is a two-year view of cash transactions, including the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons:

Team Spent Received
Miami HEAT $5,939,424 $75,000
Oklahoma City Thunder $5,101,000 $0
Brooklyn Nets $4,880,000 $0
Cleveland Cavaliers $4,700,000 $75,000
Golden State Warriors $3,400,000 $0
Houston Rockets $2,940,000 $456,921
Portland Trail Blazers $2,850,000 $0
Memphis Grizzlies $1,861,950 $0
New York Knicks $1,600,000 $0
Los Angeles Clippers $1,386,921 $0
Chicago Bulls $1,000,000 $0
Washington Wizards $839,431 $0
Minnesota Timberwolves $344,562 $1,000,000
New Orleans Pelicans $75,000 $4,021,259
Dallas Mavericks $0 $0
Detroit Pistons $0 $0
Indian Pacers $0 $0
Los Angeles Lakers $0 $0
San Antonio Spurs $0 $0
Toronto Raptors $0 $250,000
Sacramento Kings $0 $839,341
Charlotte Hornets $0 $1,842,276
Phoenix Suns $0 $2,170,465
Denver Nuggets $0 $2,340,000
Milwaukee Bucks $0 $2,400,000
Atlanta Hawks $0 $3,015,386
Philadelphia 76ers $0 $3,900,000
Orlando Magic $0 $4,313,314
Boston Celtics $0 $4,419,236
Utah Jazz $0 $5,800,000

Alan is an expert gambling writer who works as one of the chief editors for Basketball Insiders. He has been covering online gambling and sports betting for over 8 years, having written for the likes of Sportlens, Compare.bet, The Sports Daily, 90min, and TopRatedCasinos.co.uk. His particular specialisms include US online casinos and gambling regulations, and soccer and basketball betting. Based in London, Alan holds an MA in English Literature and is a passionate supporter of Chelsea FC.

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