Trade season ramps up today: Examining the new list of players who can now be traded

Generally, you won't see many trades made across the NBA until the middle of December and that comes for good reason. The collective bargaining agreement requires that players signed during the offseason as free agents cannot be traded until December 15th. Barring a few exceptions (the no-trade restrictions lasts until January 15th in a few select situations), that means a boatload of new players are now officially available on the trade market as of Friday morning.

From the Celtics' perspective, it means Danny Ainge now has the freedom to deal four players on the roster who previously couldn't be moved: Gordon Hayward, Aron Baynes, Daniel Theis and Shane Larkin. All four of those players aren't going anywhere. Hayward is a cornerstone, while Baynes, Theis and Larkin have been meaningful contributors on a 24-6 team at bargain costs.

So why does today matter then if none of these new names are likely to be moved? The Celtics are still sitting on the disabled player exception (where they can acquire a player making up to $8.4 million) without sending out any salary. We covered a number of names that might be available previously at the Boston Sports Journal, but the landscape across the NBA has made a few more names as potential targets now, thanks to slow starts and injuries across both conferences. Here's a look at a few of the players that are newly eligible to be dealt, could fit into the DPE, and play on teams that will likely be sellers:

Vince Carter: $8 million (Sacramento Kings)

Ersan Ilyasova: $6 million (Atlanta Hawks)

Nerlens Noel: $4.3 million (Dallas Mavericks, has no-trade clause)

Tyreke Evans: $3.3 million (Memphis Grizzlies)

Michael Carter-Williams: $2.7 million (Charlotte Hornets)

Luke Babbitt: $1.9 million (Atlanta Hawks)

There are also a number of veteran's minimum salaried players who are now eligible to be dealt, but the Celtics won't need to use the DPE to acquire any of those. In those situations, they could match salaries with a player like Celtics reserve forward Abdel Nader in a trade, or just accept the salary into an exception without using the DPE. The Celtics would also be able to go after some of these players without using the DPE, but with limited expendable pieces and salary available at the bottom of the roster, that's easier said than done. Nader is probably the only guy right now the C's would happily move for players on this list since he's effectively the 14th man on the roster with limited upside at age 24. Others either have nice cost control long-term (Guerschon Yabusele, Semi Ojeleye) or are reliable contributors for their spots in the rotation (Baynes, Theis, Larkin).

Here's a reminder of some other names that were already eligible to be dealt for with the DPE:

Corey Brewer ($7.5 million): Lakers would be happy to dump his deal
Channing Frye ($7.4 million): Cavs would be happy to dump his deal, but he's been a valuable contributor
Trevor Ariza ($7.4 million): Won’t be available unless C’s offer good value. Integral part of Rockets rotation
Lou Williams ($7 million):  Not sure where he would play in crowded Celtics backcourt but he can get buckets with the best of them. Clippers are likely headed to lottery so he should be available in next couple months
Jabari Parker ($6.7 million): Bucks love him and he’s going to get fat contract next year. A fun pipe dream but can't see it happening.
Marco Belinelli ($6.6 million): Top of the list as far as available shooters go.
Ed Davis ($6.3 million): Blazers have a logjam in the frontcourt and could be looking to cut payroll.
Wayne Ellington ($6.2 million): Useful shooting weapon for Heat. C’s would have to give up decent value for him.
Brandan Wright ($5.9 million): He's hurt again.
Josh McRoberts ($6 million): End of bench player for Dallas.
Dante Exum ($4.9 million): He’s hurt and a big part of Jazz rotation.
Devin Harris ($4.4 million): Potential veteran rental on tanking Mavs team.
Nik Stauskas ($3.8 million): Was just traded to Brooklyn in Okafor deal.
Quincy Pondexter ($3.8 million): End-of-the-bench player for tanking Bulls team.
Will Barton ($3.5 million): Important bench piece for the Nuggets. Would cost Celtics serious assets.
Noah Vonleh ($3.5 million): Like Davis, part of the Blazers logjam but he’s younger and has more upside.
Doug McDermott ($3.2 million): Appealing wing shooter but one of few assets that the Knicks got in the Carmelo Anthony trade.

Danny Ainge told Toucher and Rich on Thursday that the team is continuously looking, but plans to be patient with how it uses its DPE

"The reason why we haven't used it is we really need to be careful with it," Ainge explained," "is because we don't know what injuries may happen over this next stretch, and that could be really important for us heading into the late season and into playoffs, and if our roster changes because of somebody's not healthy at a particular position. As our roster currently stands, there's one position that I think I would fill the need, and if we had an injury somewhere else along the road, it would be some other position. And on top of that, there's really nothing that's come up that we've really been thrilled with.

"It's justified to use it any time we feel if we feel like we have a good use of it. OK. So, like, if we find something that is something we really are excited about and a player that can really help us -- as opposed to somebody that can help us get through a rough patch that's not going to play at all for us come playoff time, I'm not really interested in using it for that right now."

Only a couple of names on the lists above probably check the boxes for Ainge. Belinelli and Evans are both the kind of offensive sparkplugs off the bench that could make a difference with the second unit in my mind. However, until the asking prices come down on that pair or more injuries hit, expect the trade waiting game to continue for Ainge. With more names added to the mix now, he can get more creative with potential offers.