The new CBA, with its increasingly restrictive aprons, remains a beast NBA teams are still trying to temper.
No-nonsense, max-level contracts are no longer assured for players who aren’t outright superstars, and paying for potential — if this summer’s restricted free-agency market is any indication — also seems to be a thing of the past.
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Mikal Bridges just agreed to an extension that averages $37.5 million per year, a number that would have seemed outrageously low just 12 months ago. It’s not that his play or general value has in any way dramatically lessened. He’s still the league’s iron man and a premier two-way wing, which is one of the most appealing archetypes around the association.
So, what gives?
It’s simple: Teams are no longer willing to fork over massive amounts of money only to get stuck with very little roster flexibility. The payoff of breaking the bank to field a contender is simply not worth it when the system prohibits second-apron teams from taking back a single dollar more in a trade and aggregating contracts.
Mikal Bridges got more than three years on his extension. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
(Maddie Meyer via Getty Images)
As such, fielding a contender has to come by different means, and limiting the overall cap number is the way forward.
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Will Bridges’ new deal result in a ripple effect around the league?
We don’t know yet, but one indicator could be the upcoming extension negotiations between the San Antonio Spurs and De’Aaron Fox.
Fox is a star, but he’s not a franchise player. Therein lies an enormously interesting difference, seeing as a franchise player will always get the full ride, whatever it necessitates.
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Fox is considered a secondary star, and he’s probably closer to being a third wheel than he is a genuine second, primarily due to his inconsistent shooting. (Fox is a career 33% 3-point shooter, and that number isn’t particularly representative of his shooting, as his 2023-24 season of 36.9% on high volume ballooned his career number.)
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For the Spurs, who have spent the first two years of Victor Wembanyama’s career carefully constructing a plan to make the most out of the Frenchman’s rookie salary, handing Fox a 30% max, which could be worth approximately $229 million, shouldn’t be done without significant consideration.
For players who fall between superstar and star status, the rules have seemingly changed. There was once a time when even fringe All-Stars were handed max contracts, but now teams are contemplating how to proceed forward.
In Los Angeles, the story is different. Luka Dončić, also up for an extension, is of such quality the Lakers have no issues presenting a full max. Dončić, in many ways, is so important that he far exceeds the 30% max value, as the Lakers would gladly pay him 35% if they could.
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Fox, to stick with that example, simply doesn’t affect the game to the same degree as Dončić, and teams are very much aware of that. They now understand if players aren’t of equal importance, they risk not getting the same salary because of severe roster restrictions.
It’s not an unfair point, nor is it entirely unexpected.
The more money on the books mean less roster flexibility. Less roster flexibility means a lower ceiling on how good a team can become. A lower ceiling means less interest from players.
And round and round we go.
Players now accepting they will have to make sacrifices in order to win is now part of the calculation. They agreed to this CBA and its restrictions after all. But let’s also not lose sight of the obvious here. While some stars won’t find themselves earning 30% of the cap ever again, they won’t go hungry.
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Bridges will receive $150 million on his extension. It’s safe to say Fox will at least get a similar amount, should he sign long term.
The raw amount of money has grown to such an extent that just 10% of the cap means a salary over $15 million annually. Perhaps, then, this is the path forward for both sides, with players accepting they won’t get a certain percentage of the cap, as they did before, but without worrying about finances.
That way, teams and players can best approach the future and try to build a championship-level team together.
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