The NBA transaction season has officially arrived, kicked off with the Orlando Magic acquiring their first player in a trade in more than five years when they landed Desmond Bane this week. The intrigue created by this opening trade will only increase until the start of free agency, 6 p.m. ET on June 30.
But it's quite possible most of the impactful moves will happen before then -- during or shortly after the draft on June 25-26. There isn't much cap space out there -- there's a logjam that is expected to clear by summer 2026 -- and the free agent class is shallow on star players.