Are NBA teams allowed to add players to the roster during the playoffs?
NBA teams are scrambling as they head into the playoffs with players succumbing to the rigors of a long season. But is adding someone an option?
The NBA playoffs have gotten started and the buzz all over the league is the overall health of the players. The long, hard slog of the season has left some of the game’s biggest names questionable just as it really begins to matter.
The trade deadline has long since passed, but are there moves that can be made at this late date? Well, perhaps.
The trade deadline
Yes, the league has a trade deadline, but teams who missed out on the big moves will still get a chance to beef up their roster, even at this late date.
The deadline only means teams can no longer use trades to get new players, but they can still sign up midseason free agents via the buyout market.
But the playoffs have started
To be clear, you cannot buy a new player right now. But if you signed a player before the end of the regular season can still make their team debut in the playoffs. The stipulation is that the player must have been waived by their previous team prior to March 1. Teams must submit their playoff roster between the end of the season and the start of the playoffs, but given those two key items are complied with, it is still possible to see a team bring on a ringer in the playoffs.