Who becomes eligible to trade from the New York Knicks on December 15?

It’s almost that time of the year, folks. No, I’m not talking about Christmas, I’m talking about the kick-off to NBA #TradeSZN unofficially coming on Dec. 15.

While there is nothing preventing teams from pulling off trades before that date, you must have noticed a certain lack of activity on that front during the first couple of months of play. While that has a lot to do with teams coming off an offseason in which they already shaped their rosters thinking about them as winning/tanking units, thus the wait to see how things work or not, it is also because of the rules of the NBA when it comes to trading newly-signed free agents.

On Dec. 15 as many as 80 newly signed NBA players from last summer’s free agency (restricted and unrestricted, also extended to new contracts by their current teams), will become eligible to be traded for the first time this season.

According to NBA regulations, as stated in their official explainer, “A free agent who signs a standard NBA player contract (or a player who signs, or is converted to, a standard NBA player contract while under a Two-Way Contract) cannot be traded for three months following the date the contract is signed or until December 15 of the Salary Cap Year in which the contract is signed, whichever is later.”

Come December 15th, the trade season will get going in full, allowing teams to shuffle (most of) their assets, with the final important date coming a month after that one, on January 15th (players who got a raise of at least 20%, their salary is worth more than the minimum, and their team was over the cap, using Bird or Early Bird rights to sign them will only be eligible to be traded then).

With the In-Season Tournament in the books and the NBA family—fans and front offices alike—already looking forward to trades popping up across the league from next week through the trade deadline on Feb. 8, 2024, here are the players that New York can trade away only after we move past Dec. 15.

Contract numbers and statistics are updated as of Dec. 10, 2023, per Basketball-Reference.com.

G Ryan Arcidiacono

2023-24 Salary: $2.5 million (non-guaranteed)

Contract length: One season (through June 2024)

2023-24 Statistics: 6 GP (0 GS), 2.2 MPG, 0.0 PPG, 0.2 APG, 0.5 RPG, 0.2 SPG

G Donte DiVincenzo

2023-24 Salary: $10.9 million

Contract length: Four seasons (through June 2027) totaling $46.9 million

2023-24 Statistics: 21 GP (3 GS), 20.4 MPG, 8.9 PPG (42.1/42.6/68.4), 1.7 APG, 2.8 RPG, 0.9 SPG