The Boston Celtics had their reasons for trading Jaylen Brown, chief among them being that they didn't want to pay him the superduper max contract he was bound to ask for, which would have clogged their cap and limited their long-term options. They didn't make the trade because they wanted to, but because the CBA would have limited their chances at Banner 19.
Oklahoma City is also trying their darndest to avoid the CBA's ramifications. They already traded a few of their players to cut costs, but now they've traded Lu Dort in their efforts to avoid the NBA's second tax apron.
BREAKING: The Oklahoma City Thunder trading All-Defensive wing Lu Dort to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal that sends three second-round picks to OKC, former No. 1 pick Zaccharie Risacher to the Dallas Mavericks and Ryan Nembhard to Atlanta, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/4ewUxhRQA5
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 19, 2026
There's an even bigger headline from this: no NBA team is in the NBA's second tax apron this season as it stands.
There are zero teams projected to be in the second apron this season.
— Yossi Gozlan (@YossiGozlan) July 19, 2026
This would be the first time it’s happened since the second apron has been implemented.
At times like these, Brad Stevens should be appreciated. Not for trading Jaylen Brown (yet) but willing to bite that bullet of going into the second apron, as doing so led to Banner 18 for Boston.
Stevens knew when he assembled the 2023-24 Celtics, he only had a two-year window before he had to break them up. It paid off because not only was Boston the best team in the league, but they dominated the postseason from start to finish.
And it probably doesn't happen without Stevens willingness to go into the second apron. The same magic didn't happen the following year, but it's not like assembling this team didn't pose some sort of risk from the start.
Because teams are terrified of that second apron, Stevens deserves more credit for throwing caution to the wind and what that led to.
Teams don't want to take on the same task Stevens did last year
Stevens knew the fun had a time limit, which led to him having to part ways with a good chunk of that team. Kristaps Porzingis' and Jrue Holiday's departures were inevitable, but Boston was so strapped that they couldn't keep Al Horford and Luke Kornet.
Not only was it impressive that Stevens managed to get Boston under both tax aprons, but even managed to get under the luxury tax period. Best of all, he didn't have to include any first-round pick to get it done. Impressive yes, but let's not forget that such a task was very difficult to achieve.
Seeing what Boston and Oklahoma City have had to do over the past two years is a strong enough signal to teams of what has to be done to try to keep their contender status, which is why teams don't want to do it.
Ironically, it's this fear that helped get Mitchell Robinson to Boston, as New York didn't want this problem (which is coming for them anyway with Karl-Anthony Towns' mammoth contract).
WIth what Stevens' efforts led to and other NBA teams trying to avoid the same fallout Boston did, he should be more appreciated for going all out to bring home Banner 18.
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