There were some concerns leading up to the trade deadline that the new apron-related restrictions affecting many teams around the NBA would reduce the amount of in-season activity on the trade market. That certainly wasn’t the case, as 25 clubs made at least one deal during the first week of February and a record number of players were on the move.
As Brian Windhorst and Tim Bontemps write in an ESPN.com Insider story, the action on the trade market suggests that teams are comfortable managing the first-apron restrictions.
“I think what we’ve seen is the real penal place to be is the second apron, and mostly because of the [rule against aggregating contracts],” one executive told Windhorst. “If you’re in the first apron, it’s harder, and you may need a third team, but it is manageable.”
As Windhorst points out, while several teams operating near or above the first tax apron made major trades, the three teams that remained above the second apron were relatively quiet. The Celtics completed only a minor salary-dump deal, the Timberwolves didn’t make a trade, and Phoenix was unable to find a path to acquire Jimmy Butler after trying for weeks.
The Suns did make a pair of smaller in-season deals, but the Jusuf Nurkic trade was essentially a salary dump and the acquisition of Nick Richards required them to pursue a player on a very modest contract ($5MM per year) due to their inability to aggregate contracts.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Elsewhere in their Insider-only ESPN.com story, Windhorst and Bontemps explore how teams with youth and depth are having more success than ever this season, while many clubs that have had to rely more heavily on older veterans – such as Philadelphia and Phoenix – are struggling. “With the style of the games and the pace of play, the league has never been more physically demanding,” one general manager told Windhorst. “It wears guys down and out.” One coach who spoke to ESPN noted that there’s a history of teams winning with “men, not with boys,” but acknowledged, “It’s hard to win with a lot of old men because even if they’re great, they get hurt.”
- Speaking to Vassilis Skountis and Rigas Dardalis of Cosmote TV, Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo confirmed that he plans to suit up for Greece in the 2025 EuroBasket tournament (story via Eurohoops.net). “If I am healthy, I will be there,”Antetokounmpo said. The Greek national team clinched its EuroBasket berth with an overtime win over the Czech Republic on Friday.
- Following the loss of guard Dennis Smith Jr., EuroLeague powerhouse Real Madrid is rumored to be eyeing veteran free agent Patrick Beverley, as Alessandro Maggi of Sportando relays. Real Madrid’s roster may undergo additional changes involving former NBA players, per Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops, who passes along rumblings that big man Serge Ibaka and the team are considering parting ways.
Seems like a straight line is being drawn towards the middle class NBA player having to take a mandatory haircut now in lieu of creating additional apron space …. or in case of tankers a bigger dump site
Feels wrong, in a lot of ways, but this issue isnt all on Silver and mainly needs to be fought inside the players union first and amongst the player unions full audience and participators .
It’s just basic capitalist economics…
The middle class pays for EVERYTHING… Otherwise the whole thing falls down…
Coaches out and out stating what I’ve been most loud about with the trade deadline…
Old stars aren’t worth the price paid…
You get less games per dollar…
And although a couple of old teams have won titles recently, there’s always a number of them who don’t every year…
The ADs and Butlers aren’t the prized trade packages that they were over a decade ago… They’re very much like the KG to the Nets deal…
All about selling hope to a desperate fan base…
@Cap – While the allocation of salary among the players is a player issue (first and second), since the Unholy Alliance seized control of the CBA and league in 2011, the NBA middle class has been more notional than anything else. When the league has to construct a free agent exception built on the concept numbers-wise (the MLE), you know its not inherently visible to most.
FWIW, I’d love to see changes to the CBA that suggest more than 2-3 or so players matter on a team. Not for “fairness” to the players really (although that’s nice too), but fairness to the fans and the game, i.e., its quality. But, still, I can’t see those changes convincing today’s 2k-ish FO’s of anything other than that the number might be 3-4. E.g., drop the max salary line by 5%, and I think you’ll just get more teams looking for a big 3, or even a big 4, vs valuing the rotation. Until the game is marketed and officiated differently, the value system won’t change.