NBA Reportedly Approves Moving Trade Deadline to Before All-Star Break
The NBA reportedly approved a plan Wednesday to move the 2018 trade deadline to Feb. 8, which is 10 days before the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles.
Shams Charania of The Vertical first reported the change. The 2017 deadline was Feb. 23, just four days after the conclusion of the league's All-Star Weekend.
Creating more distance between two of the NBA's marquee midseason events should allow both to attract more attention in 2017-18.
One other factor was likely the earlier start to the season. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported in December the league planned to start the games about a week earlier than last year's Oct. 25 date to create more flexibility for off days within the slate.
Front offices being forced to make quicker decisions about whether to buy or sell at the deadline will be the other major shift. Teams in the middle of the pack often wait until the last few days before deciding how to handle the rest of the season.
Charania noted the switch was approved for the 2017-18 league year. It's unclear whether the deadline will remain ahead of the All-Star Game in the future.
