The NBA no-trade clause is the most powerful weapon a player could have when it comes to controlling their own destiny. What is it and how does it work?
The no-trade clause is very rare to see in an NBA player contract these days due to the fact it has so much power. A player with a no-trade clause has the right to veto an trade his team might try to negotiate.
Although only top players end up with no-trade clauses in their contracts, some younger players end up with veto rights due to rules in the CBA.
Younger players who sign their second contract have veto power on any trade for a full year of the deal if the team that had the rights to them matched their contract offer. There are also some smaller cases of this, but often these are the two ways to get no-trade power.
NBA no-trade clause: How do players control the situation?
Teams are often very weary of giving players out no-trade clauses due to the fact that it gives players ultimate leverage in any deal if they choose to request a trade from the team. The player can choose what team he wants to be traded to and what return the team gets in return from them.
Teams give out everything in the book when it comes to extra stuff in the contract before they end up giving a player a no-trade clause. Bradley Beal's situation is a prime example of this.
The only reason that Beal was given a no-trade clause was that Washington was going nowhere fast and had nothing to offer to the player. Beal may have stayed regardless of this, but it certainly helped that if he eventually requested a trade, he would control where he would end up.
The Lakers gave Kobe Bryant a no-trade clause. He was almost traded during the mid-2000s but he didn't like the roster that the Bulls would be left with if they ended up trading for him, which made him decline the trade. He ended up getting Pau Gasol instead.
