Adam Silver defends new CBA and second apron, saying it puts all 30 NBA teams in position to compete

The 2024 offseason will forever be remembered as the summer of aprons. Some of the NBA’s most expensive teams were forced to take austerity measures in the face of new rules in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement. The Clippers let Paul George walk for free. The Nuggets did the same with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Warriors signed and traded Klay Thompson. While these were some of the biggest moves of the offseason, they proved to be wildly unpopular with fans.

There are a few reasons for this, but two stand out. The first is that teams that break up for financial reasons are rarely the most fun. Thompson, under a different set of rules, might have retired as a Warrior alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The Clippers went from a bona fide contender to the bottom half of the Western Conference by losing George, and few fans want to take contenders off the board. The second problem is the limitations placed on teams when it comes to improving. It’s no secret that offseason drama fuels much of the NBA’s success. If fewer teams are able to sign or trade for a star, well, suddenly there’s less drama in the offseason.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver addressed those concerns during the league’s summer league and defended the new rules. “What I’m hearing from teams, even though the second apron is coming into effect, is that teams are realizing that these provisions are having a real impact,” he said. “I don’t know how to look at it, but I know there have been reports that it’s been a dull summer from a fan standpoint. I don’t think that’s the case. We’ve still seen a lot of critical players move from team to team as free agents.”

“But at the same time, I think this new system, even though I don’t want it to be boring, I want to put the teams, 30 teams, in a position to compete better. I think we’re on the right track to do that.”

The NBA has had six champions in the last six seasons, but it would be unfair to credit these new rules with creating that parity, given that they are only really being implemented now. One could reasonably argue that other factors had already pushed the NBA to produce more contenders, and the new rules have only pushed them further. A healthy player movement environment theoretically makes it easier for new contenders to emerge, because they always have the tools to improve. The opposite might even be true in this environment. Say, for example, that a dynastic team emerges despite all these rule changes. It becomes much harder to make the moves necessary to compete against them in a world with backboard restrictions.

In truth, it’s far too early to say exactly how these new rules will impact the business of the league going forward. NBA front offices tend to be pretty inventive. There will be exploitable loopholes and roster-building tricks, even if we don’t know exactly what they will be. The Thunder are making a push to add a high-profile free agent in Isaiah Hartenstein while two of their best players, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, are still on cheap rookie deals, which might suggest that the push needs to be made sooner rather than later. Jalen Brunson’s below-market extension could redefine how teams use max contracts. A new balance has yet to be established. It will be over time, and only then will we understand what these rules mean for the long-term health of the league.