One thing that some NBA teams have to deal with annually is the dreaded luxury tax. It is a thorn in the eye for teams, especially those coming off championships.
Tied to that, some teams spend loftily on star players. Among the familiar names on that list are LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and Jayson Tatum and Jalen Brown of the Boston Celtics.
These players are paid millions annually by their respective squads. However, it remains that teams also need to surround them with a supporting cast that won't come cheap. This is where the luxury tax comes into play. It is a system implemented by the league to reward teams for staying under a set spending limit. For those who go over it, there is a price to pay.
Don't blame us
With that in mind, teams find it difficult to keep their core group together. Organizations want to avoid the luxury tax and the expenses it will cost them.
When asked if this was a measure to ensure there would be new champions each season, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver shrugged off the insinuation.
"I don't think our system, by definition, will prevent repeat championships. I think that, yes, it makes it less likely, but we didn't set out to say, let's make sure there's a different champion every year," Silver said at a recent Board of Governor's meeting held in New York.
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Skillful management and team building
Financially struggling teams would benefit from this. However, there is no assurance that squads teetering on the luxury tax level will stop spending lavishly. Franchises could also do several things to work around this problem.
One is trying to convince players to take a pay cut. Squads have done this in the past, sacrificing financially so that the group gets a better chance at winning the NBA title. Teams such as the Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Los Angeles Lakers did this at one point, a formula that allowed them to create dynasties.
But if there is one team that spent heftily in the NBA, it would be the Celtics. Boston paid nearly $600 million to keep Tatum and Brown together, as Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban once explained how the Cs were able to pull it off.
"You can still pay somebody and take it wherever you want to take it," Cuban stated . "You just got to pay the luxury tax."
Despite the hefty paychecks to Brown and Tatum, Boston still managed to retain Jrue Holiday and Derrick White with acceptable deals. With the core group still intact, it remains to be seen if the Celtics can repeat as champions. However, as Silver pointed out, making back-to-back title runs won't come easy.
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