I think you're thinking of a very old NBA. 4 out of 5 deadlines, a max player is available these days. Players ask out all the time now, times have changed. I don't care at all about missing on someone unless they are MVP level. Like a Giannis or something. One way scoring types are frequently available, Booker's friend KAT got traded just this morning. If we were in a situation where we have the regular 2-3 prospects and time is expiring, then maybe I'd want to cash in. The way we stand though I see 3 guys emerging as AllStars before they're 25 years old. You don't need more than that to win a title, so why risk ANYTHING when you can flip every single card over to pick your 3 best players?
Absolutely correct. If Jalen pans out, we don’t need to trade for anyone. As it stands now, Booker and Giannis are the only two guys that might be available that I would give good assets for. I do not want a star that only plays on one side of the court. This team is positioned to be one of the best defensive teams and transition teams in basketball. I believe at least 2 and probably 3 will hit as stars.
Wolves traded KAT because of financial reasons…they made the WCF for the 1st time since 2004 and then proceeded to get actively worse Clippers let Paul George just walk for nothing because of finances whoever pushed for and agreed to these new LT rules is an idiot…they’re far too draconian Tilman didn’t want to pay LT back when the penalties were nowhere near as severe…some of these young players will be getting traded or passed up for a new contract in the future for sure
I think what is happening is exactly what the people wanted to happen that pushed for these rules. They didn't want the NBA to be about which teams could spend more/find loopholes to spend more. These rules place more emphasis on team building by the front office than having a rich owner/market/having player(s) that other players want to play with.
when those same people/teams have to let good players walk or trade them away because they can’t afford or are unwilling to pay the steep penalties, this entire narrative will flip…especially when those places have problems attracting players to begin with
Those people won't likely overpay less than good players that get them in this situation and won't have much issue having great teams. Those places have trouble attracting players because players like making money and having opportinity to play where they want with players they want to play with. This will make players choose between making money and playing with a bunch of other high paid players.
this just sounds like wishful thinking teams have been overpaying since the dawn of time for various reasons we’ve already seen 2 teams trying to compete get worse this offseason because of these penalties we’ll see what Tilman does when the time come…I already have an idea of what he’ll do this will make teams choose between retaining good players and suffering severe penalties, or do the Tilman special constantly trying to shed salary while the team is trying to win
It's not the luxury tax those teams are ducking, they are both still deep in the tax. It's the 2nd apron they are avoiding & the Twolves are still ~$13m over that 2nd apron. I kinda like the new rules, I think it'll prevent superteams from forming - no more Lebron and friends or a GWS situation .... teams that draft well and manage their cap wisely should do well. This should help the smaller market teams that are well run compete. It's going to be much harder for stars to demand to go to big markets - when those teams are capped out they can't add another big money guy.
The league doesn't want 3-4 franchises hording all the stars .... This puts and end to that - unless guy are willing to take significantly less. GSW has been at 161% of the cap since at least 2021- I didn't look beyond that but that's double what some teams were spending over that period of time and they were able to continue to acquire talent on top of what they had because there was no reason to fear the tax - they were still making hordes of money with no other penalty. PHX, Philly and the Clippers have been at that same ~160% figure in recent years too. That figure is literally double what a cap space team spent in the same season. This puts a stop to that. Teams will be able to spend above that second apron but they won't be able to sustain that spending like we've seen in the past. They can only go all in for a couple years before the penalties get too punitive. NYK might hold this group together 2 years but after that, its getting blown up.
I agree with everything except your conclusion on the NYK. Unless you are talking about Hart, which yeah, I think they will have to let him go. But Brunson/KAT/OG/Bridges? They can keep those four together for a while, especially given the contract Brunson signed.
I actually love what the Knicks have done. Ideally, you identify four core complementary core pieces with one Supermax. Two supermaxes may be possible, but it would get really tight. Looking at the Knicks, I think they can easily keep Brunson/KAT/OG/Bridgers together for 5+ years, and those guys are all in their 20s. Reviewing the Knicks' cap sheet in '27 - '28, they have $187m in project allocations with a $237m projected first apron. If they waive all their cap holds/team options, they'd gain almost $38m in cap space, putting them significantly below the cap. Now, this calculation doesn't include a potential Bridges extension, but the point is they can extend Bridges pretty simply while staying well under the second apron, especially if they don't keep Hart.
Those 4 plus minimum contracts will likely eat up enough salary to hit the second apron as soon as Bridges is extended. I doubt those 4 plus minimums can win. Basically, KAT puts the Knicks on the clock to win in the next two years as well as getting some players that they can sign to Bird rights as after that their roster is basically who they have plus minimums. Bridges will likely be around $45-50M that season and have to be signed at least a year before that season. So no cap space and keeping those 4 guys likely keeps them from being able to use the MLE, signing players above minimums, and trading future draft picks. I think the Knicks keep Hart knowing that they are going to be a 2nd apron team and trust that teams staying under the 2nd apron hampers the other teams more than being over the 2nd apron hampers the Knicks.
Assuming Bridges doesn't take a discount like Brunson and his hold is around 50 mil in 27 - 28, those four players' cap hold will be just under 200 mil with a projected second apron of 250m. It'll be tight, but they should be fine as long as they don't keep Hart. Brunson's discount was a game changer for them. They also aren't completely bereft of future draft capital, either.
TF is much richer now than he was when he bought the Rockets. He's almost in the top 5 of NBA owners. Here's to hoping he'll be willing to pay when the time comes.
Umm, they have to have a full roster. Let's say $2.5M average for an assortment of minimums from rookiee to veteran. That's $25M at least. Those 4 and minimums aren't going to win. They aren't going to be able to make trades with minimums. I doubt they would be able to get someone better than Hart with just $25M below 2nd apron and 1st apron restrictions such that they likely keep him. I suspect they try to add a player or 2 with Bird rights before Bridges extension and just blow past 2nd apron than hamper themselves with just minimums. Either that, or they get rid of 1 of the 4.
They'll have draft picks and exceptions. They'll be able to fill out their roster pretty well. The biggest point of difference here is I think a core of Brunson/KAT/OG/Bridges will be enough to win IF they fit well together. The era of superteams is coming to an end. Teams with strong cores who stick together will be the ones who will consistently contend IMO. The second apron will destroy the NBA's "middle class." There will be talent willing to take minimum contracts. Hell, it's already happening (Prince, Plumlee, Burks, etc.).
Draft picks cost salary to sign the player which will close gap on 2nd apron. Exceptions...If they use the full NT-MLE, the 1st apron becomes a hard cap. The tax payer MLE is just $5M and its use would hard cap Knicks at 2nd apron. Other exceptions aren't available to 1st apron teams to sign players much less 2nd apron. They can use MLE now and next year to get players under salary, but that is going to narrow the gap with the 2nd apron. That just makes it more likely that they keep Hart and just accept faith as a 2nd apron team. On vets taking minimum. Those guys mostly suck now, but the cap is going up. I think teams will understand the implications of 2nd apron and adjust what the middle class gets paid such that the number of guys available at the mimimum won't go up. Players that sign above minimum just won't sign for as high a percentage of the cap per win.
