Where to Find NBA Transfer Rumors
The NBA rumor mill is always cranked up to its highest setting whenever transfers are on the cards.
Players changing teams can create controversy, change the trajectory of the season and alert the odds of games being won or lost, so this intensity of interest makes a lot of sense.
So with that in mind, where should you look for up to the minute rumors relating to the NBA, and when are the periods that the gossip is at its juiciest?
Scour social media
It’s fun to follow top players on social media, but this can also be a way to tap into what’s going on in the world of transfers.
More significantly, if you’ve already heard a rumor about a player and you want to check if it’s accurate, looking at their social media profile could give you hints about the veracity of any story that’s being spread elsewhere.
Of course it’s always worth remembering that social media accounts can be hacked, and that high profile individuals like NBA players are particularly ripe targets for such activity. As such it’s a good idea to double check rumors elsewhere just in case there’s mischief afoot.
Visit reputable basketball transfer rumor sites
Bookmarking well respected news sites that publish NBA transfer rumors is wise if you want coverage of the latest stories as they are emerging and evolving.
Obviously you need to take any rumor with a pinch of salt, unless the sources cited are bulletproof. But the more you follow reputable outlets, the more of a sense you’ll get for the accuracy of reports.
You can also use your own intuition to determine if the rumors you find are reliable. It’s rare that transfers occur out of the blue, and usually there’s murmuring bubbling under the surface for weeks or months.
When to look out for transfer rumors
There are strict rules relating to the trading and sale of players within the NBA, which is helpful for fans because it gives you specific windows within which you can be on high alert for rumors of potential moves.
Trades are allowable from the beginning of the season until the afternoon of the seventeenth Thursday into the season in question, which typically falls in February. Leading up to this deadline, rumors are at their most intense because last minute trades may be in the offing, with deals being done down to the wire.
Teams can also begin making trades once the playoffs begin, so long as they have not made it on to this stage. Thus as the regular season draws to a close, transfer rumors begin to fly thick and fast once more.
There’s also the period immediately after a team is eliminated from the playoffs, which opens them up to the option of making trades. Gossip abounds at this point as well, as you’d imagine, because losing in the playoffs often means making a reshuffle to prevent this happening next season, and fresh blood helps with this.
The official trade tracker is a useful tool for seeing which players have indeed been traded during the offseason, and also shows you dates which are significant to this process, to help you dial in your own research.
Final thoughts
Being involved in the NBA transfer rumor mill is an entertaining part of being a fan, particularly when the players involved aren’t affiliated with your favorite team, as that lets you sit back and enjoy the fireworks without having a stake in the outcome of negotiations.