Jake Fischer Latest: On a potential NBA trade trend to monitor

Minimum contracts have never been more valuable in trade discussions than they are now as teams all over the league grapple with luxury tax apron restrictions. It's something we need to monitor

If you're a salary cap wonk, you probably have a favorite trade machine website, contract database or even keep your own spreadsheets. I am no wonk. But I've been graciously invited to judge Tulane's Pro Basketball Negotiation Competition for the past several Februarys. It's where the league's best capologists and savvy agents gather to evaluate future prospects in their fields — competing law students engaged in mock-trial-esque bartering.

One school typically represents a player, sitting across the lecture hall table from a faux front office hailing from another university. They're assigned upcoming offseason cases like, in 2023, when the battle staged was hashing out Josh Hart's eventual extension with the Knicks. One prompt this past year featured Jonathan Kuminga's potential new contract with Golden State.

The annual competition places a staggering number of students-turned-lawyers into NBA front offices. Tulane's own sports law program now boasts a pipeline of alumni working in the NBA that has begun to resemble Emerson College’s fabled pathway to the league (srarring Sam Presti, Rob Hennigan and Will Dawkins). I've learned so much from that annual competition. Just as I learn something new about the collective bargaining agreement every week when I'm on the phone calling around the league.

It's all led me to hatch a wonky hypothesis of my own:

This trade season, reminiscent of this past offseason, I am bracing for minimum contracts to emerge as a quite valuable trade commodity.

More valuable than usual.

Sexy topic, huh?

Hear me out though. This could become something rather important. Let me show you why.