raleigh wrote:I don't think most regular NBA fans have quite grasped how the apron restrictions are gonna shift team-building strategies moving forward. In the past, it was all about blaming the owner for avoiding the luxury tax. Moving forward, GMs themselves are incentivized to make cost-conscious decisions.
Unlikely incentives for Capela ($2M), Murray ($1.4M), and Hunter ($1.25M) are included in the apron calculations, so even if the Hawks do nothing other than select someone at the #1 spot and offer Bey the qualifying offer, they are gonna be operating above the first apron when the free agency period effectively begins.
In that situation, the Hawks would be restricted from:
[*]Using their $23M TPE
[*]Acquiring a player via S&T
[*]Using any portion of the BAE or more than the taxpayer portion of the MLE
[*]Taking back more salary than it sends out in a trade
[Source: https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2023/12/hoops-rumors-glossary-tax-aprons.html]
As a result, we all need to be expecting some negative moves like the JC salary dump last year.
Teams are allowed to make moves prior to the start of the league year July 1st, like we did with JC and recieved the TPE. The problem was we didn't use the TPE except $2 million on TyTY Washington then promptly traded him for a smaller TPE.
When the playoffs end thru the draft and June 30th Teams can make moves to clear their capsheets.
