Warriors draft pick purchase leaves them hard-capped at second apron

The NBA’s new CBA has a number of surprising ways that a team can become hard-capped. Make a sign-and-trade? That’s a hard-capping. Use the mid-level exception? That’s a hard-capping. Take back more than 110% in salary in a trade while over the salary cap? You better believe that’s a hard-capping.

So is buying a second-round pick, which hard-capped the Golden State Warriors at the second apron, roughly $189.5 million. Unlike the normal, soft salary cap, which has plenty of exceptions to its limits, the hard cap is a strict limit. More of a hard hat than a cap, really. But GM Mike Dunleavy Jr. doesn’t see the limitation as a problem.

Golden State isn’t planning to go over the second tax apron, and they’d probably like to stay under the first apron as well. There’s scenarios where they might stay over the tax line, but none where they were going over the second apron again.

Hard-capping the Warriors at the second apron is like SB Nation banning its bloggers from buying Lamborghinis. Sure, the rule is in place, but there’s no way they were spending that money in the first place.

But the Warriors are still a second-apron team until the new league year begins, so they’re subject to those restrictions. One reason the Warriors want to dramatically cut payroll next season is that it greatly loosens all the transaction rules going forward. Not only are sign-and-trades and draft pick buys back on the table, there’s very generous rules about salary matching in trades for sub-apron teams.

If things go to plan for the Warriors this offseason, the only one concerned about a second apron will be Ayesha Curry, when Steph helps out in the kitchen.