Dewayne Dedmon opting in to his contract may point to more things to come on draft day for the Atlanta Hawks.

On wednesday, rumors about the Atlanta Hawks seeking to trade back for Trae Young surfaced. Earlier in the week, the Hawks were alleged to be looking to trade up from the 19th and 30th picks as well. So when immediately before the draft, Dewayne Dedmon announces that he’s exercising his player option to remain with the team, the timing sticks out.

Players whose contracts could end due to an option can’t be traded under the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. This rule, as you may recall from last year, required Chris Paul to push back his unrestricted free agency from 2018 to the summer of 2019. As a result, when Dedmon decided to accept his option, he couldn’t be included in any trades. Now that he has opted in, the Hawks are free to include the capable backup center in any potential offers.

But also, Dedmon acted uncharacteristically early on his option. The actual date that Dedmon had to make a decision by was June 29, and it’s very common — especially for players that intend to opt in to their contracts — to wait until the last second. This is sometimes to prevent the team from making moves knowing that he’s under contract with no choice about it, but more often than not, it’s just that there’s no reason for the player to put the decision in writing before they have to.

Again, referencing the Chris Paul situation from last year, had Paul submitted the paperwork to opt out early when the decision appeared to be that he was going to opt out and enter free agency, he wouldn’t have been able to orchestrate a trade to Houston. The Clippers would have been forced to reset the clock on his Bird rights, thus limiting the amount of money he could have made in free agency.

As a result, while coincidence is a plausible explanation, all of the factors we have point toward Dedmon being available for trade in tomorrow’s draft, and it would not be surprising to see him moved.