You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

The Thunder’s payroll heading into the offseason was nearly $60 million above the luxury tax line. That placed them in the tenth-highest tax tier and would have required them to pay a $291 million luxury tax penalty. They don’t just pay $7.75 million for every dollar above the tax line. They’re paying $7.75 for every dollar above $54.6 million in addition to $253 million for maxing out the previous nine tiers ($253.2 million + $37.7 million).

The Thunder were set to enter the season with a $550 million roster to run it back. Of course, it wouldn’t actually be quite that high since they can’t roster 17 players in the regular season, but it still would’ve been a tax penalty that exceeded their payroll.

It does not matter how immaculate their decision-making was up until now. As great as the Thunder were these last two seasons, the rising cost of paying their best players made it impossible to justify carrying great role players as the 11th and 12th men. So they made the financial decision to bring their tax penalty down to a more palatable level for the upcoming season.

Read more

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

New ownership has also faced criticism for several aggressive off-court cost-cutting measures, including mass layoffs across parts of the organization. They also conducted a controversial coaching search that drew a strong reaction from the coaches' association. These developments have become a major distraction for one of the more exciting up-and-coming teams in the league.

The Blazers went from being outside the 7-8 range of the Play-In Tournament for much of the latter part of the season to finishing as the No. 7 seed. Armed with draft assets and cap flexibility, they were primed to make a big move after seeing encouraging developments from players across the roster, including an All-NBA season from Deni Avdija.

They made that move in perhaps the most unexpected trade of the summer, acquiring Ja Morant for Jerami Grant and Kris Murray. The Blazers were never speculated on as a suitor for Morant since they already had a glut of guards. New head coach Micah Nori will have his work cut out for him finding enough minutes for Morant, Jrue Holiday, Damian Lillard, and Scoot Henderson while staggering them enough to find the best combinations without getting killed on defense. It also presents the front office with additional challenges for maintaining the roster moving forward.

Read more

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

The 2020-21 season was a return to competition and the start of former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman’s career. The 2021-22 season saw the return of Thompson and the Curry-Green-Thompson trio playing together for the first time in almost three years. They were playing with free money entering the 2022-23 season since it was their chance to defend a recent championship.

Things have slowly unraveled for the franchise since then. Although they won a championship, the biggest fears of the decade became visible when none of their lottery picks developed into a cornerstone. They’ve had some young players develop into fine role players and remained competitive by bringing in veterans through free agency and trades. The Jimmy Butler trade revitalized the team and brought hope heading into last season after Golden State advanced to the second round of the 2025 playoffs.

Now the vibes are at their lowest point heading into the upcoming season after the Warriors missed out on LeBron James. He’s another name on a long list of All-Star-caliber players the Warriors were linked to and couldn’t get. He wasn’t going to single-handedly elevate them into contender status, but he would’ve put them in the playoff picture and on the path to contention with additional moves. Butler’s injury ended their title hopes, but it was clear last season that they still needed more help as they were treading .500 with him.

What makes this one so rough is that James would’ve been a great fit with Curry and, at a veteran minimum salary, still would’ve left room for additional moves. But it also feels like a gut-punch reality check that if the Warriors aren’t good enough for a 41-year-old James entering his 24th season, then they’re probably not close to appealing to other stars. As explained last week, they were looking at a high price point to add an All-Star like Anthony Davis to this core. That’s a risk for a team that may not have much time left with Curry.

The Warriors also appear to be prioritizing their future, with very few exceptions for the type of players they’d be willing to sacrifice that future for. Lottery flattening may make them content to stay the course and remain respectable enough to hopefully make the playoffs. Worst case, they’d still have a good chance at receiving a high lottery pick. It seems like they are operating on two timelines: building toward the post-Curry future while also reaping the financial benefits of keeping him in Chase Center.

Read more

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

• June 30: James informed the Lakers he would play elsewhere in the 2026-27 season.

• July 3: Rich Paul discussed suitors like the Nuggets, Timberwolves, Sixers, Heat, Cavaliers, and Warriors on the Game Over podcast.

• July 24: James announced he is signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.

This is the longest he has taken to make a free agency decision in an offseason in which he switched teams, according to Sam Quinn. It made sense for him to take time, considering he only started this process at the beginning of free agency once he knew he would not return to the Lakers. But free agency has been at a standstill for weeks now. What else did he need to know?

The Warriors and Cavaliers, the two teams most prominently discussed for James, held up their offseasons and kept their flexibility open in case he chose them. James Harden and Draymond Green declined their respective player options to preserve the possibility of paying James the $15 million mid-level exception. Last month, Kevin O’Connor reported that the Warriors were hoping to acquire Anthony Davis to lure James. Two days ago, he reported that the league-wide belief was that James was more likely to choose the Cavaliers if they could acquire Kyrie Irving.

Not only does this make a ton of basketball sense, but it is also in line with how James has operated in free agency before. In 2010, he joined a stacked Heat team featuring Hall of Fame players Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. In 2014, he joined a Cavaliers team with Irving that was also loaded with assets to make additional moves. After signing with them, they traded first overall pick Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love.

It turns out this was first and foremost a basketball decision. James is signing with the Sixers on a two-year veteran minimum deal worth $8 million. He will earn $3.9 million in 2026-27 and has a $4.1 million player option for 2027-28. He will count at the full amount rather than the $2.4 million veteran minimum for a player with two years of service because he did not sign a one-year deal.

Most of James’ suitors could only offer him the veteran minimum. The Nuggets are working on multiple fronts right now, have not made a single move to address any of their long-term questions yet, and still need to deal with the uncertainty of Nikola Jokic hitting free agency in 2027. The Timberwolves make a ton of basketball sense, but they are out of tangible assets to make additional trades. The same goes for the Heat, who traded nearly all of their draft picks and young players for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Sixers also could only offer the minimum since they used their mid-level exception on Dean Wade and Anfernee Simons. With money not a factor, joining Tyrese Maxey, Jaylen Brown, and Joel Embiid in the Eastern Conference seems like a no-brainer. For what it is worth, they could still trade their 2033 first-round pick and three first-round pick swaps to make additional moves. They also have 14 second-round picks for marginal additions.

James gives the Sixers a much better chance at competing for a championship with the added savings of the veteran minimum. A $3.9 million cap hit for a player who still produced at the value of a 25 percent maximum player would instantly make him one of the greatest value signings in NBA history.

The roster has the personnel to be a top-ranked offense, but it still has a ton of defensive questions. They attempted to address them by acquiring Brown and signing Wade, but James will now eat into Wade’s minutes. Another potential issue the Sixers faced after acquiring Brown is usage. There will not be enough touches for all of their starters, which is why they should look into Joel Embiid trades. These are all good problems to have, and they will likely go into the season to see how the roster looks before making additional moves.

The Sixers will need to waive a player on a non-guaranteed salary before signing James. Although they have an open roster spot, signing James would put them above the $209 million first apron hard cap. The most straightforward path is waiving either Dalen Terry, who is non-guaranteed, or Jabari Walker, who has a $250,000 partial guarantee. They could also acquire Bronny James with one of their trade exceptions, but they would need to waive the other of Terry and Walker to create the apron space for him.

So if the Warriors and Cavaliers needed to make additional moves to accommodate James, why did they not do so? The price tag could have been justified as the cost of acquiring Davis or Irving in addition to James on the veteran minimum. The influx of revenue with James is music to owners’ ears.

Read more

Golden State Warriors

Philadelphia 76ers

Boston Celtics

Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers

Los Angeles Lakers and Utah Jazz

Phoenix Suns and Charlotte Hornets

Minnesota Timberwolves

Miami Heat and Milwaukee Bucks

You can follow Yossi on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/YossiGozlan
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/yossigozlan.bsky.social
Salary cap sheets: www.capsheets.com

You can follow Sam on:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamQuinnCBS

Third Apron is available on all podcast providers. Please subscribe, rate, and share if you enjoyed this: https://linktr.ee/yossigozlan

You can also access Yossi’s salary cap analysis on his Substack. Subscribe for $7 per month or $50 annually!: https://thirdapron.com

After that, the main topic dominating conv…

Read more

The main cap casualties came by trading veterans like Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis for salary relief. They also let Al Horford and Luke Kornet leave in free agency for deals well above the minimum. They could’ve gone further by trading Jaylen Brown or Derrick White for a haul of draft picks and young players. It would’ve set them back further temporarily, but if executed well, it could’ve potentially set up the second half of the Tatum era really well.

They chose to keep Brown and White and roll with their group rather than position themselves for a high lottery pick. That decision looked brilliant as they dominated the Eastern Conference during the regular season. They locked in the second seed and were viewed by many as the top team in the East with Tatum returning just in time for the playoffs. Their regular-season success didn’t translate in the playoffs, as they blew a 3-1 lead to the Sixers in the first round.

Despite the disappointing loss, they set themselves up for long-term success. The Celtics found a way to get under the luxury tax line before the playoffs without giving up any additional core players or a single first-round pick. Their trade deadline moves also put them in a position to duck the tax in the upcoming 2026-27 season. Doing so would get them out of the repeater tax and put them in position to spend deep into the luxury tax in the three subsequent seasons.

Those plans will need to be adjusted after trading Brown to the Sixers for Paul George and two first-round picks. A trade wasn’t surprising since it was rumored to be a possibility and even seemed like an eventuality. It’s the destination, a division rival they just lost to in the playoffs, and the return, an aging former All-Star and just two first-round picks, that is shocking to fans.

Read more