The NBA is quickly approaching the blurred line between season and summer, with several expensive rosters eliminated from the playoffs, most notably the Phoenix Suns. Every offseason, the annual rookie draft and free agency combine to pit front offices against each other within a competitive market characterized by restrictive rules on how teams conduct business. In the upcoming trade cycle, roster building difficulties will only increase as the league's new collective bargaining agreement goes into full effect. Most notably, the NBA's new “Second Apron” will give front offices real salary standards to consider, with various punitive restrictions placed on teams that decide to spend top dollar.
What exactly is a second apron? Starting with the 2011 CBA, the league had only one tax apron, the limit on how much a team could spend above the salary cap and luxury tax line without having to pay the additional penalties that also bring other restrictions. The second apron is a new addition, slated to be approximately $11 million more than the first apron in 2024-25 ($190 million total), giving team decision-makers an even greater handicap than before. will be imposed.
Previously, being a tax team meant that the club would be charged an additional dollar for each limit exceeded, proportionate to subsequent tax brackets, and would then sacrifice access to the full mid-level exception. It meant being forced. This is a valuable contracting mechanism that allows teams without cap space to sign rotation-capable players. Under the new CBA, teams on the first apron will only be limited to matching their salary in trades to 100% of their withdrawals, while non-taxpayer teams will be limited to matching their calculated value to within 125%. can do. In short, teams cannot receive more money than they are trading out. First Apron clubs are also prohibited from signing players waived during the regular season if their annual salary exceeds the mid-level exception for that year. This year, for example, it affected the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, Golden State Warriors, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Clippers.
The second apron's effects will begin in earnest when the league calendar switches to 2024-25, with teams that exceed that standard losing the mid-level exception entirely. It is not limited to 100% salary matching in trades, and second apron teams are also prohibited from combining the salaries of multiple players in a trade. As a specific example, Phoenix couldn't trade both Jusuf Nurkic and Nasir Little for one player making $24.8 million. Teams on the second apron also cannot take advantage of the previous year's trade exception or transfer cash to get a deal across the finish line.
How punitive this last element of second apron penalties will prove to be is what league executives will be most curious about this summer's activities, and how roster construction will play out over the next few seasons. It's about being there. Teams on the second apron still can't trade first-round picks seven years from now. This means that if he is on the second apron by the end of the 2024-25 season, his 2032 first-round pick will be automatically frozen and cannot be traded. That may seem like a far-fetched draft asset, but those picks are valuable to contending teams that have already emptied much of their war chest. For example, the Bucks sent a 2030 first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers as part of a September 2023 blockbuster deal to acquire Damian Lillard.
And here's the tricky part. Then, if the team remains on the second apron for two of the next four seasons, the first-round pick after seven years is not only frozen, but automatically moved to the end of that first round. will be done. — or the 30th pick.
So far, the consensus among team strategists is that teams competing for championships are prepared to play on the second apron for two out of a total of five years, i.e. on the second apron for the first season, and then for the following season. There seems to be a growing consensus that he intends to play on the second apron. Four cap years later. If they're competing for championships and generating the revenue that comes with it, deep-pocketed owners will be willing to pay for the increase, and front offices will be willing to sacrifice future draft capital to do so. Probably not. But there's a mindset around the league that he might only be all-in for two out of five years before the team jumps under the second apron, especially if that team isn't up to its lofty expectations. It is formed.
It seems no coincidence that this spring, Minnesota signed Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley Jr. to a two-year extension through the 2025-26 season. This could very well be the second year in a row that Minnesota will break through the second apron and bankroll a strong team featuring up-and-coming superstar Anthony Edwards. 2025-2026 is also the final year of three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert's huge contract. He selects player options. Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid also has a player option for the season. Only Edwards, Karl-Anthony Towns and Jaden McDaniels have guaranteed money to the Timberwolves since 2015-26, giving Minnesota some flexibility if they choose to avoid the second apron penalty. giving.
This seems to be part of the reason why Milwaukee and Boston saw big moves last summer, including Lillard from the Bucks and Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzysis from the Celtics, before this new tax situation spread across the league. . Boston is almost certain to be a second apron team in 2024-25 after signing Holiday to a four-year, $135 million extension, with rival executives pushing versatile guard Derrick White to stay. It will be interesting to see what kind of motivation Boston has for this purpose. The final year of his contract ends in 2024-25.
How much tax money are the Warriors prepared to pay this summer, and how much impact on team building will the front office allow due to an aging and expensive roster that missed the playoffs this year? You will need to seriously consider whether this is the case. As such, rival executives are hoping the Warriors will work to improve their team while avoiding the second apron in 2024-25. Denver's plan to become a second apron team has led to opposing front office officials asking the Nuggets to keep two-way veteran Kentavious Caldwell-Pope beyond this season, when they need to decide on a $15 million player. I'm interested to see if they pony up or not. With a 24-25 year option, he seems capable of making more than that on the open market.
This is something Philadelphia officials believe is an added advantage for the Sixers, who have more than $60 million in cap space this summer, officials said. Most players looking to win a championship have to consider every dollar amount on their cap sheet, but in Philadelphia, Joel Embiid's salary beyond 2024-25 is only guaranteed.
