Overview
- NBA Commissioner Adam Silver publicly said the second apron was intentionally included in the 2023 CBA and argued the rule is helping create competitive balance across markets.
- NBPA executive director David Kelly and several players say the apron forces stars to take below‑market extensions and breaks championship cores by making teams avoid the higher penalty zone.
- Top young players including Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren accepted discounted extensions that reporters say were taken so their teams could operate below the apron and preserve roster construction.
- The second apron is a separate, punitive payroll line above the luxury tax that triggers escalating penalties and limits trades, buyouts, and use of some salary exceptions, with reported levels in the low‑to‑mid $200 million range.
- Only a handful of teams have actually exceeded the apron — Cleveland last season and Oklahoma City now — and league and union officials say reworking the rule, for example with homegrown‑player escalators, will be a key issue in the next CBA talks.