TITLE: New CBA Forces NBA Teams to Rethink Offseason Playbook
SLUG: nba-new-cba-offseason-playbook
CONTENT:
The NBA’s latest collective bargaining agreement has upended familiar offseason routines, prompting Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green to claim on Threads in July that free agency “never really started.” A closer look at league transactions, salary-cap maneuvers and extension trends offers a mixed verdict on whether the second apron and other new rules have truly ended the annual frenzy.
The second apron and the “death” of free agency
Verdict: Fiction – at least for now. The top names no longer reach the market because current clubs can begin negotiating the day after the Finals and because richer extension rules beat free-agency uncertainty.
• Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Julius Randle, Naz Reid, Fred VanVleet, Sam Merrill and Bobby Portis re-signed before June 30, 2025.
• Last offseason, Pascal Siakam and Malik Monk did the same.
• The CBA now lets first-rounders add a fifth year even when the first-year salary is below 25% of the cap; Jabari Smith Jr., Jalen Johnson, Trey Murphy III, Alperen Şengün and Jalen Suggs used that option in 2024.
• A potential 2025 class featuring Jalen Brunson, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Lauri Markkanen, Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Davis, Damian Lillard, Jimmy Butler, Rudy Gobert, Brandon Ingram, Derrick White, Ivica Zubac and Alex Caruso disappeared after each player signed long-term extensions.
Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters in Las Vegas, “You have situations where players are electing to stay … I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing.”
In the first three seasons under the new labor deal, 51 veterans signed extensions; 26 came during 2024-25 alone. From 2017-23, the league logged 74 total.
Stretch provision usage surges
Verdict: Fact. Front offices are spreading huge contracts over several years to open immediate cap room or escape the aprons.
• Milwaukee waived Damian Lillard on July 1, stretching $113 million over five seasons, and bought out Vasilije Micić, stretching his $2 million over three. The moves cleared space to give Myles Turner four years and $108 million.
• Memphis stretched Cole Anthony’s $11.1 million post-buyout salary across three seasons, then renegotiated and extended Jaren Jackson Jr.
• Phoenix bought out Bradley Beal and is expected to stretch $97 million over five seasons, producing a $19.4 million annual cap hit but slipping below both aprons and saving more than $200 million in salary and tax this year.
Since 2013, 54 players and $320 million had been stretched entering this offseason; the past month alone added $223 million. Nicolas Batum’s previous high annual hit of $8.9 million was dwarfed by Lillard’s new figure.
Is the middle class losing ground?
Verdict: Fiction. According to league data, 84% of players who signed non-minimum, non-rookie deals this summer landed first-year salaries between $4 million and $20 million—an 8% rise year over year.
• Thirty-one players fit that band; 19 switched teams, up 32% from last offseason.
• Clubs used the full non-tax mid-level exception 10 times (five a year ago) and executed sign-and-trades or prior trade exceptions to add others.
Former NBPA president CJ McCollum told Front Office Sports, “The middle class is making more money than they ever have before.” Since 2017-18, the cap has climbed from $99 million to $154.7 million, and total player pay has jumped from $3.3 billion to $5.4 billion.
Restricted free agents face mixed leverage
Verdict: Both fact and fiction. Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes and Cam Thomas can test the market, yet rival teams outside Brooklyn cannot offer more than $14.1 million in first-year salary.
Imagem: Marks via espn.com
Only two restricted players—Deandre Ayton and Matisse Thybulle—have signed offer sheets since 2022. Sign-and-trades are tougher because outgoing salary counts at 50% for apron calculations, likely hard-capping clubs such as Golden State or Philadelphia.
Out of 14 former first-rounders who accepted their qualifying offer since 2023 and later signed contracts, just Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley and Cameron Johnson exceeded $20 million in first-year salary. Kuminga reportedly declined a two-year, $45 million deal that included a team option.
Bonuses are disappearing from new contracts
Verdict: Fact. Dallas’ 2024 crunch—sitting $50,000 below the first apron because $4 million in incentives for Kyrie Irving, Caleb Martin and P.J. Washington counted as salary—became a cautionary tale.
This offseason, none of the 150-plus new deals included bonuses. By comparison, 23 contracts signed in 2023 and 2024 carried incentives. Only one recent first-round extension, Moses Moody’s, contains a bonus clause.
Tyler Herro’s pre-CBA extension remains a warning: five separate incentives cost Miami $2.5 million against each apron every season.
Do drafting teams pay the price for success?
Verdict: Fact—unless a front office plans ahead. Rookie-scale max extensions can spike to 30% of the cap when a fourth-year player makes All-NBA, wins MVP or Defensive Player of the Year.
• Cleveland and Detroit absorbed an extra $8 million apiece this season—and $45 million over the life of the deals—after Evan Mobley (DPOY) and Cade Cunningham (All-NBA) triggered escalators.
• Orlando’s Paolo Banchero has a similar 30% escalator in his $239 million agreement, which would jump to $287 million with an All-NBA nod.
Oklahoma City structured Chet Holmgren’s new pact without an escalator and limited Jalen Williams’ increases to specific award thresholds. The Thunder also staggered descending or partially guaranteed contracts for Isaiah Hartenstein, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell while stockpiling 13 first-round and 16 second-round picks over the next seven drafts.
The evolving CBA has tightened some avenues and opened others, but free agency, roster building and long-term planning remain very much alive—just in new forms.
Com informações de ESPN
