Trade-mania grips the NBA

Now that last summer's free agent signees and first-round draft picks can be traded, the market could really heat up.

Updated: December 16, 2003, 11:41 AM ET

By Chad Ford | NBA Insider

Is the NBA in for the biggest in-season trading frenzy ever? The trade deadline isn't until Feb. 19, but in the space of three weeks we've had three major deals go down, two coaches fired and a lot more talk about player movement than I can ever remember at this stage in the season.

Six teams already have pulled the trigger on trades, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. Two weeks ago we talked about why that is -- parity, luxury-tax concerns and an unusual amount of rebuilding jobs in the works. Even teams that are winning (Boston, Memphis) don't seem hesitant to make something happen.

Now that Dec. 15 has passed, teams will be much freer to make trades than they were before. Before Monday, free agents and first-round draft picks who had signed last summer were ineligible to be traded. That's more than 100 players in total. With those restrictions now lifted, the silly season can officially begin.

Today Insider sifts through the group of players who just became eligible to be traded and highlights a few guys who may end up being thrown onto the trading block.

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