Photo by Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
The new NBA CBA goes into effect next season. Most of the time, these changes are minimal and fans do not notice but this collective bargaining agreement could have a massive effect on many teams. With the new rules, team-building as we know it will drastically change if teams want to avoid stiff penalties. In order to understand how this affects teams, we have to understand the new CBA.
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New NBA CBA
There’s a lot in there but there is one new aspect that is going to affect teams the most. The NBA has a soft cap. Teams are able to go above the cap but receive penalties for going over a certain amount. The casual fan has probably heard the term “luxury tax” and this is meant to dissuade teams from simply spending unlimited amounts on players. The new CBA however adds what is called a “second apron” which is another salary threshold that if teams reach, a whole new set of restrictions kick in.
Here are the penalties for being over the second apron.
-Loss of midlevel exception
-Ban on including cash as part of trades
-Inability to accept more salary in a trade than the team sends out
-Unable to aggregate salary in trades
-Cannot trade first-round picks seven years in the future
-Cannot sign players on the buyout market
-Also, if a team exceeds the second apron and remains there in one of the four subsequent years, its draft pick will get moved to the end of the first round
To give you some perspective, under the new CBA, the Kyrie Irving trade could not have happened. James Harden would not have been able to be traded from Brooklyn to Philadelphia and Kevin Durant would not have been a Sun. The second apron next year will trigger at around $177 million. Which teams does this affect the most?
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Los Angeles Clipppers
With the salaries that the Clippers have on the books for next year, they sit at $40 million over the second apron. Getting below that number is going to be almost impossible because of all the restrictions. This also means the Clippers will have a difficult time filling in the gaps on their roster. Backup center Mason Plumlee almost certainly cannot be re-signed and Russell Westbrook will likely walk as well. The Clippers may just have to ride with who they have next season which is a scary thought with the injury history of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
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Golden State Warriors
Some feel this new NBA CBA is a direct attack on the Warriors. When they signed Durant after already having Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green, many teams vowed to make it so that would never happen again. Thompson and Green are looking for new deals. The Jordan Poole contract kicks in next year and that is on top of Andrew Wiggins and a slew of other veterans. Like the Clippers, they sit around $40 million over the second apron. Will they say ‘screw it’ and try to go for one more championship run? Or will they try and cut a bunch of salaries to avoid paying the price?
Pheonix Suns
The issue with the Suns this year was their lack of depth. That is not going to get better next season. Durant and Devin Booker combine for just over $80 million in salary. Deandre Ayton will add another $30 million and we haven’t even gotten to Chris Paul. The Suns are going to have a difficult time filling out their roster with so much money already on the books. The ideal move would be to move Ayton for three solid role players and possibly Paul as well. If they keep everyone, they will have the same issue as last year.
Other Teams Who May Struggle Under The New NBA CBA
The aforementioned teams are not the only ones that are going to have problems in the short term. The Bucks, Lakers, Celtics, Wolves, and many more are just under the second apron and have very little wiggle room. It is surprising that the league did not give a couple of seasons for teams to prepare for this new change. Teams were building rosters under the old model and now have to scramble to adapt. The new NBA CBA hopefully will make things more balanced in the long term but in the short term, teams are going to struggle to build rosters.
