Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[omahen]

And the claim that we don't have a real view of how teams want to work a payroll under the 2nd apron limits is utter nonsense - this is year FOUR of this CBA and as you wisely note, most deals on today's payrolls were made since then. 

I think you are disregarding a lot of things in this statement and I think that full effect of apron consequences is getting more and more serious with each season. When aprons were first implemented, it was a new situation both for teams and players. Players were demanding salaries they were used to and often got it. There were still teams throwing around money in hope of short term success. I think this is visibly reducing year by year and most of those hefty deals handed over in 2024 and 2025 are negative now. 

Spotrac has this nice site about offseason spending in last two years (unfortunately not further back). Counting both extensions and free agents. 1.7 billion more was spent last summer compared to this one. Some extensions will still be signed, so the difference will get lower, but I think it is safe to say it will not reach the number from last season. According to other web sources, another 1.7 billion more was spent in the record 2024 summer. We can see a declining trend of over 30 % yearly.

Spending 2024: 7.4 billion
Spending: 2025: 5.7 billion
Spending 2026: 4 billion

2026 NBA Offseason Summary