What It Is
Trade Value attempts to combine on-court performance with contract value to estimate what a player would be worth in a trade market. The most prominent public version is The Ringer's annual trade value list, which is essentially editorial judgment.
APEX Rationale
Not used in APEX. Trade Value conflates on-court performance with off-court factors (contract status, age, team fit, championship window), making it a different metric from pure player value. Park (2025) confirms salary — closely related to trade value — reflects narrative metrics rather than impact metrics. APEX explicitly does not validate against salary or trade value.