The trade market leading to the NBA trade deadline on February 9th has been slow to materialize this season and the ongoing collective bargaining agreement negotations is one of the factors. The possibility of rule changes in the next CBA creates an unknown for teams to try to navigate.

"My feel is that one of the reasons talks are sluggish right now is because of unknowns. Period," said Brian Windhorst on his podcast. "Unknowns about the CBA. Unknowns about where certain players' health is going to be. Unknowns about where teams are going to be. 

"We're kind of running out of time."

Bobby Marks countered that approximately 84 percent of the trades over the past five years have been executed in February, but by most accounts this is not expected to be a momentous trade deadline.