![\"brad](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2198063180-1-e1755644474613.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBrian Fluharty\/Getty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Brad Stevens and the Celtics have spent the offseason dealing with the NBA’s second apron.<\/p>\n
NBA<\/a> teams have known for a long time that the second apron provision<\/a> of the collective bargaining agreement would have its day, and for the most part they tried to simply enjoy their lives until it darkened their doorsteps in earnest.<\/p>\n This summer, it broke down a few entrances.<\/p>\n And while some clubs were happy to catch the falling pieces \u2014 like, hey, break me off a piece of them Celtics<\/a> \u2014 those entrusted with building a contending team and keeping it together are sweating the circumstances.<\/p>\n One league executive dealing with it was rather blunt.<\/p>\n \u201cThe second apron<\/a> is a bitch, man,\u201d he told Heavy Sports.<\/p>\n The Second Apron Led the Celtics to Cut Ties With Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Luke Kornet, and, in All Likelihood, Al Horford Steven Ryan\/Getty The Celtics parted ways with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis this offseason amid second apron concerns.<\/p>\n The threshold is calculated at $207,824,000 for the 2025-26 season, and penalizes teams with collective salaries beyond it by imposing rules that limit the ability to make moves. There is also an increased luxury tax.<\/p>\n Faced with this situation \u2014 and with Jayson Tatum\u2019s<\/a> Achilles\u2019 tendon injury severely hindering, if not ending, their shot at the 2026 NBA title \u2014 the Celts cut ties with Kristaps Porzingis<\/a>, Jrue Holiday<\/a>, Luke Kornet<\/a> and, almost certainly, Al Horford<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore, they just kept hiking the price of being over the tax limit,\u201d said the aforementioned exec. \u201cThe question was, \u2018OK, is it worth spending this amount of money to pursue a championship?\u2019 And for the most part, when you got close, the owner pushed his chips to the center of the table and he said, \u2018Yeah, it\u2019s worth it. Pay the money.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBut now you have things like limitations on trades and loss of draft position [teams in the second apron for three years in a five-year span have a first round pick moved to the end of the round]. These are all new in the apron system. Now the cost gets too expensive. It\u2019s not just money; it\u2019s limiting to your operations.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the NBA\u2019s salary cap system appeared designed to help teams from smaller markets compete with clubs that could derive far greater revenues from areas such as local TV and radio contracts. And while there may be some of that in the apron system, there is a measure of danger for all.<\/p>\n One Front Office Source Said About the Second Apron: \u2018It\u2019s Going to Kill Some of the Smaller market Teams That Go For \u201cYou\u2019ll see that it\u2019s going to kill some of the smaller market teams that go for it,\u201d another front office source told Heavy. \u201cMilwaukee got a championship, but then it started costing them so much money that they had to make moves to cut back. The biggest reason to trade Khris Middleton was that it got them off some money. To be able to sign Myles Turner, they had to do the thing with (Dame) Lillard (waive and stretch his remaining money over five years). They had to do that to stay under that apron.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was designed to keep parity in the league,\u201d he added. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it had as much to do with the smaller markets and all that. But those kind of teams obviously thought it would help them if the teams in the big cities couldn\u2019t just throw all kinds of money at a problem \u2014 more money than the smaller market teams could afford to do.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll still see that with some of the teams that spend into the second apron to chase a championship, but it won\u2019t be long after that that they have to start selling off guys to avoid the penalties. And if you don\u2019t get what you\u2019re after \u2014 either winning it all or at least getting to the conference finals and contending \u2014 then you\u2019re going to be stuck with a big bill and nothing to show for it.\u201d<\/p>\n The Celtics got to unfurl the 2024 championship banner, but their quest to repeat was unceremoniously derailed in the second round. Their rotation once seemed locked and loaded; now there is uncertainty.<\/p>\n \u201cBoston was put in an even tough position when Tatum went down, but don\u2019t you think they\u2019d have liked to be able to keep that group together longer?\u201d said one exec who\u2019s dealing with his own concerns about the future. \u201cWhat happens if Tatum is able to come back late this season and for the playoffs \u2014 then he gets there and looks around, and there\u2019s all these key guys missing?<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s some good parts about what they\u2019re trying to do to make things competitive. But if you want some dominant-type teams, you\u2019re not going to have that anymore. I mean, look, there\u2019s been a new champion how many years in a row, seven?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018We Ain\u2019t Houdinis\u2019<\/p>\n The 30 owners have an obvious focus on financial health \u2014 both the league\u2019s and their own.<\/p>\n \u201cThe owners are against anything that\u2019s inflationary, and this apron system and the penalties make player movement harder,\u201d said a team exec. \u201cThe big players will still get their money, but it\u2019s harder to maneuver your roster once you get a bunch of veterans with serious contracts.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s funny is that once they sign on to the new system and they have to operate under it, they turn to us in the front office and say, \u2018Figure a way to get around it.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cLet me tell you, those restrictions are seriously f****** chilling to those in basketball ops. You have to be a lot more careful with everything. Everything. You\u2019ve got handcuffs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know who you\u2019d need to hire to circumvent the cap in this generation and this era? Houdini. He\u2019s the only dude. He can get out of handcuffs and ankle cuffs. The rest of us, we ain\u2019t Houdinis.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tSteve Bulpett<\/a> has covered the NBA since 1985, the first 35 of those years as beat writer\/columnist for the Boston Herald. In that time, he has gained National Top 10 honors from the APSE as a columnist, beat reporter and features writer. Since 2014, he has served as a vice president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association. More about Steve Bulpett<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brian Fluharty\/Getty Brad Stevens and the Celtics have spent the offseason dealing with the NBA’s second apron. 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\n![\"porzingis](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2036794762.jpg\")
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