Did Adam Silver Actually Crack Down Too Hard on the NBA?

Did Adam Silver Actually Crack Down Too Hard on the NBA?

More and more NBA teams are afraid of spending too much on the salary cap, because of the new second apron rules

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First off, this is not Adam Silver’s doing or fault. He’s just the face of the NBA, and it is easy to point the finger at him. But this is the only time I’m going to be rational about this.

In 2023, the owners’ and players’ associations sought a way to prevent NBA teams from spending too much money on players’ salaries, without severe repercussions.

Teams were able to afford two or more superstars who made a large portion of the team's salary cap. Then spend any extra money on support players. All this was because the only penalty before was paying extra for going over the salary cap. Teams didn’t mind doing that.

Now, with the creation of the second apron, the penalties are even harsher. Here are some of the most notable ones:

• If a team reaches the second apron on salaries, it must trade one player for another, but can’t match two or more players for one big salary player.
• Teams cannot take back more salary than they send out, and they cannot acquire a player via a sign-and-trade deal.
• Teams are not allowed to sign a player to a mid-level exception contract. Every team gets one every year.
• Teams aren’t allowed to trade their first-round draft picks as far as seven years.
• If a team is in the second apron for three out of five years, their first-round draft pick will be last overall, regardless of their season outcome.
• Teams cannot collect $200 upon passing Go. Just kidding.

After all of this, teams are shaking in their boots.

With these limitations, some teams are parting ways with their stars to save money.

The Minnesota Timberwolves traded away Karl-Anthony Towns to preserve cap space. And this year, the Wolves have already pivoted again by trading away Julius Randle, who was the main piece in the Towns trade.

A couple of years ago, the Los Angeles Clippers let Paul George go into free agency for virtually nothing. He signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in one of the worst contracts in the NBA. So no harm done for the Clippers.

This season has seen some of the wildest moves to stay under the second apron. We saw Mitchell Robinson go to the Boston Celtics to help the Knicks preserve money again.

This off-season produced one of the most controversial trades in NBA history. Almost up to the shock value of the Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis trade two years ago.

The Jaylen Brown to the 76ers trade for Paul George, two first-round draft picks, and two second-round draft picks created a lot of buzz. And not the good kind.

Celtic President of basketball operations Brad Stevens finally addressed the reasoning behind the press conference. Stevens kept mentioning that the team wanted to have optionality for the upcoming season.

That makes sense because, despite his age and bad contract, George is still a great NBA player. He thrives as the second option and shoots a little over 40 percent from catch-and-shoot three-point percentage.

But this trade was a pure salary dump. Brown was due for a two-year, $140 million extension, which the Celtics did not want to pay. He already has three years remaining on his contract at over 60 million per year.

Brown is a tremendous isolation scorer. A team does need that at times. But countless times, that ball movement translates to more team success.

Brown is still an important player to have. But at over $60 million per year, teams just don’t think his production on the court is worth that much.

The 76ers have a great team on paper with Brown, Tyrese Maxey, V.J. Edgecomb, and “The Process”, Joel Embiid. Can they put it all together, though, is the real question.

Back to the real question from all of this. Did Adam Silver crack down too hard on the league?

In the three years since this happened, there have been three different NBA champions. The Celtics, the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Knicks. It has been eight years overall since we have had a repeat champion.

While it has been great seeing a new champion for several years. The Knicks were able to capture one this past season after 53 years. The Milwaukee Bucks were champions in 2021 after 50 years.

The Denver Nuggets and Toronto Raptors captured their first championship in this span, along with, of course, the Thunder.

This has all been exciting to see, but as a sports fan, I know I speak for a lot — not everyone, but a lot — that dynasties attract more viewership.

Sure, we all talk trash to our buddies.

“Bro, I’m tired of Tom Brady always winning!”

“Dude, can we have another finals besides the Warriors and Cavs?”

People are natural complainers. But when the time comes of pure dominance, fans love to watch it and see if the New York Yankees or Los Angeles Dodgers can add another championship.

Or will Boston have more championships than the Lakers?

I think Silver and the NBA are on the right track with the second apron restrictions, but it completely paralyzes a team for years. It is completely changing how a team will build its franchise.

The bigger markets are going to spend more money. It has been the case since the dawn of sports. That’s business 101.

Till this day, the ’98 Bulls winning their sixth championship in eight years in Game Six is the highest-rated televised game of all time.

A game almost 30 years ago has never been surpassed.

The Bird and Magic rivalry in the 80’s revitalized the sport and brought on many viewers who are still fans of the NBA.

I’m not saying to return to the old rules, although they could be on the next collective bargaining agreement. Parity is nice, but not what the fans actually want. We want to see Bird and Magic rivalries. Wembanyama vs. Shai Gilgeus-Alexander.

The San Antonio Spurs vs Thunder was the most-watched conference finals game since 2016. And the NBA Finals were the most-watched since 2017. Series-clinching Game Five at one point had a viewership of 33 million viewers.

Both the Spurs and Thunder are built to have superb young teams for a number of years. But their young guys are getting good, fast.

Oklahoma City has already paid its young guys big contracts. And for the Spurs, Wembanyama will be due a hefty contract, and in a few years, maybe Dylan Harper.

Are we going to keep seeing these teams trade away their young stars to stay below the second apron?

I understand every few years it’s nice to see someone different win. But it’s even better to see repeat champions. Dynasties built before our eyes.

We haven’t seen one in a while. The Golden State Warriors had a tremendous run, but have had a hard time getting back to the finals.

We’ll see if this way continues or if things change again further along the road.

Thank you for reading!