Title: Raptors Notebook: Where Toronto stands after off-season moves
Date: July 16, 2024
Original Source: Sportsnet
Synopsis: In my latest at Sportsnet, I emptied the notebook with some thoughts on the new NBA CBA impact on free agency, key Raptors contract details, and more.
Gary Trent Jr. agreeing to a one-year, minimum contract with the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday did not signal the end of the NBA off-season. It did, however, signal the most official acceptance yet of the 2024 reality: A confluence of factors from the new collective bargaining agreement have had an outsized impact on the 2024 free agent group’s middle class.
To make things simpler than they are, let’s call it three primary factors acting on the market for players like Trent right now.
The first is the introduction of a second luxury tax apron, beyond which the highest-spending teams face even larger tax penalties and, more importantly, serious limitations to how they’re allowed to build their roster. Teams at the highest echelons of spending don’t have as many exceptions and accounting tricks as in prior years to keep adding to a contending core; teams in the moderately-high spending tiers don’t want to risk reaching that second apron and being similarly restricted.
Blake Murphy Sports Writing 