Those decisions were shaped by a new collective bargaining agreement that imposes stiff financial penalties on the league's highest-spending teams for adding talented players since the NBA free agency period began June 30. Across the league, big-market teams such as the Warriors, Clippers, Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers have taken steps to avoid the $188.9 million “second apron” spending category of team payroll for the 2024-25 season.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday he was pleased with early offseason progress on the new salary cap, which he said was intended to create equality among the league's 30 teams.
“The system seems to be working. We have been very clear about putting more pressure on high-end consumers,” he said. [spenders]”We're not going to have a blanket equalization of salaries across the league, but part of the goal that we have set in collective bargaining is to make sure that every team is in a position to compete for a championship and has the resources to do so,” Silver said after the NBA Board of Governors meeting in Las Vegas.
“The economic impact of the second apron is quite severe, [there is also] “It affects players' contracts and their ability to acquire players in the draft. Teams are beginning to realize that these clauses have real power.”
To enter the second apron, a team must be well above the salary cap of $140.6 million. Entering that zone means the team must pay luxury tax penalties and cannot use the mid-level exception, include cash in a trade, or use any trade exceptions acquired in the previous season. Additionally, second apron teams could lose the right to trade certain future first-round picks or have their picks moved to the end of the first round.
If the Clippers had kept George on a deal similar to the four-year, $211 million contract he signed with the 76ers, they would have had to pay huge costs to retain existing rotation players and faced new constraints in trying to add talent around the team's core. With George gone, the Clippers responded by signing Derrick Jones Jr., Nicolas Batum and Kevin Porter Jr. on smaller, shorter-term deals that kept them away from the second apron.
The Clippers, owned by Steve Ballmer, the league's richest owner, were among the NBA's top three spenders each of the past three seasons. This summer, the Clippers traded nine-time All-Star George and ended their five-year partnership with Kawhi Leonard to preserve future flexibility.
Similarly, the Warriors, who have won four championships since 2015, have been the NBA's biggest spenders over the past four seasons. After Golden State decided not to pay Thompson a big long-term contract, they filled the gaps with budget-friendly additions like Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson and De'Anthony Melton.
“It's still early days,” Silver said, “but we're pretty happy with what we're hoping to achieve.”
The NBA has long been a league built on dynasties, from Bill Russell's Boston Celtics to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls, but it has produced a different champion each of the past six seasons. Given the new challenges of assembling and paying multiple top players on the same team, the league's new equilibrium seems likely to continue.
The Celtics won the championship in June and will be the No. 2 team this season, but their star-studded roster could become prohibitively expensive as soon as next summer — in other words, it will almost certainly be tough for the Celtics to dominate in the 2020s the way Jordan's Bulls did in the 1990s.
“As long as we can create something resembling a level playing field in terms of the tools that teams have to compete, I'm all for dynasties and I'm all for having new teams every year,” Silver said. “What fans want to see is great competition. No matter which team they root for, fans want to believe that their team is in a position to compete on an equal footing with the other 29 teams, regardless of market size or the financial resources of the owners.”
Another direct consequence of the second apron era has been the relative stasis of star movement this offseason. Of the 26 players selected for the 2024 All-Star Game, only George changed teams. That's a stark difference from 2010, when LeBron James and Chris Bosh teamed up with Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat, or 2016, when Kevin Durant joined Curry, Thompson and Draymond Green on the Golden State Warriors.
The new system is designed to spread superstars evenly across the league, making it harder for top players to devise their own “superteam” configurations unless they follow Brunson's lead and sacrifice tens of millions of dollars in annual salary.
Brunson's decision to sign a four-year, $156.5 million extension allowed the Knicks to trade Mikal Bridges, re-sign free agent forward OG Anunoby and retain a roster that included Julius Randle, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo. Despite their smart plan and Brunson's big blessing, the Knicks still have just two All-Stars, losing center Isaiah Hartenstein to the Oklahoma City Thunder in free agency.
“I know there have been reports that it was a boring summer from a fan perspective,” Silver said. “I certainly don't think that's the case. But we did see some very important players move from team to team as free agents. … I think [the new system] It's boring, but I want to put 30 teams in a more competitive position, and I think we're on the way to making that happen.”
