@buckets: denver is currently the only team in the nba above the second apron, which is set at $221.7M for next season. they crossed it after matching OKC’s 2-year, $12M offer sheet for spencer jones, a move that reportedly pushed their projected luxury-tax bill from around $36M to $68M. so what does being above the second apron mean? it becomes a LOT harder to improve the roster. denver can still pay its own players, but adding talent from the outside gets much tougher. they can’t combine multiple contracts in a trade to bring back one more expensive player, they face restrictions on trade exceptions and buyout players, and they’re mostly limited to minimum contracts in free agency. there’s also a long-term penalty. if denver finishes the season above the second apron, its first-round pick seven years out gets frozen and can’t be traded. stay above the apron often enough after that, and the pick can eventually be pushed to the end of the first round. that’s why this roster probably isn’t finished changing. between the massive tax bill and the restrictions that come with staying above the apron, denver has a real incentive to shed salary and get back underneath it at some point. so even after an already busy offseason, another meaningful nuggets move could still be coming.

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Wednesday 09 September 2026 23:01:53 GMT