The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement has made maintaining a title contender for an extended period of time a difficult proposition for any franchise, especially mid-to-small market franchises. The strain can be felt first by the Milwaukee Bucks, who are having a big problem with the free agencies of Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton.
“I also want to say with the player movement that happens and the different rules, it’s hard to keep the team together for six to ten years like it used to be,” Brian Windhorst said on his podcast.
“Now it’s more difficult with these new rules,” said Tim Bontemps. “These new rules are designed to break up teams. That’s what they’re designed to do.”
“The thing about the new rules, that second apron, that the Bucks are going to go to…if you hit the second apron, they’ll bury you. You can’t sign anyone. You can’t really trade to anyone. Draft picks are automatically pushed to the back in the first round.” A goal on the Clippers and the Lakers and at least the Nets when they first started negotiating it, the Nets have stuck around since. It’s an absolute goal to keep teams agile. That’s what the Bucks are likely to face here. They’re facing the downfall of the title-winning Warriors and the Nets and Clippers push Lots of money in the luxury tax.”