There was much debate this offseason about the Nuggets’ strategy, including letting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope leave in free agency. The team had the means to keep him and match any contract, but the team’s salary cap would have exceeded the new second apron and would have required significant spending and other punitive measures.
Ultimately, this decision was seen by many as a deliberate choice by the owners not to pay more taxes in order to retain their starting roster. The company’s position was of course that the team wanted to retain some flexibility in its roster for the future.
Regardless, the move was controversial and could prove disastrous if the Nuggets’ young players aren’t able to take on bigger tasks. But the bigger question was whether or not this move indicates that the Nuggets will never spend more money on the second deck in the future.
It’s entirely legitimate to wonder whether the owners view the second apron as a fixed ceiling and will flatly refuse to spend beyond that. One could argue that if there’s ever a time to do so, it’s this offseason.
But the team president, Bennett Durando recently asked Josh Kroenke this same question. of the Denver Post, and as for the Nuggets viewing the second deck as a hard ceiling, Kroenke responded: “Not necessarily.”
But Kroenke immediately qualified his statement by vaguely referring to the new collective agreement and new rules that will make this difficult. Overall, the answers were not satisfactory and did not really clarify things as a whole.
The words of the owner and coach in press conferences should always be taken with a pinch of salt and, as always, actions speak louder than words. There is no reason to give the Kroenkes the benefit of the doubt and assume that they will pay more than the second apron when they have literally refused to do so, instead sharing the title-winning starting five in 2023.
The Nuggets may have created some temporary financial flexibility this offseason, but it’s a small buffer. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon are both expected to get big extensions and young players like Christian Braun and Peyton Watson They will soon come to demand higher salaries.
The second apron isn’t going away, and Nuggets fans will likely hear about it for years to come. Get used to it; it’s the new reality of the NBA and a new spending limit for many teams.
