Knicks' Josh Hart Compares 2nd Apron to 'Grim Reaper' in NBA Free Agency in New Video
New York Knicks star Josh Hart reflected on the pressure the punitive second apron of the NBA luxury tax is putting on teams in a Thursday episode of The Roommates Show with Jalen Brunson.
"Normally, no one really gets a buyout until you've got one year remaining on your deal, and it's after the trade deadline, and y'all come to some type of agreement," Hart said at the 10:30 mark of the podcast. "Now you're seeing guys get bought out now. You're seeing guys get waived and stretched with a massive amount of money on their contract.
"That second apron, it's like the grim reaper right now."
Hart's comments came just over two weeks after the Milwaukee Bucks waived and stretched Damian Lillard, who is recovering from an Achilles injury, with $113 remaining on his contract.
Lillard isn't the only star player who parted ways with a team looking to get under the second apron this offseason.
Other moves have included the Phoenix Suns trading Kevin Durant to the Houston Rockets and buying out Bradley Beal as well as the Boston Celtics dealing Kristaps Porziņģis and Jrue Holiday to the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively.
Boston Celtics general manager Brad Stevens said after dealing Porziņģis and Holiday that "the second apron is why those trades happened."
ESPN's Bobby Marks noted on Wednesday that all five players involved in these moves were signed before the second apron kicked in during the 2024 offseason.
Per Marks, the 2023 deals that brought Durant and Beal to the Suns, Holiday and Porziņģis to the Celtics, Lillard to the Bucks or James Harden to the Los Angeles Clippers would not be allowed under the NBA's current salary cap rules.
The Bucks, Celtics and Suns have since had to move on from the players involved in those trades, while the Clippers were forced to led Paul George walk in free agency last offseason in order to keep Harden on the roster.
The Knicks, which are currently hard-capped at the second apron, are running up against the restrictions of the NBA's new salary cap rules themselves.
Signing Guerschon Yabusele left the Knicks two players short of a full roster and just $3.5 million below the second apron, per CapSheets' Yossi Gozlan.
The Knicks have enough room to fill out the roster with a veteran and rookie free agent, per SNY's Ian Begley. But given the Lillard news and the fact that the hard cap will shape the rest of the Knicks' offseason, it's no wonder the second apron is on Hart's mind this July.
