Harper: As free agency continues, some NBA teams seem to be challenging the CBA

The contender-building model in the NFL these days tends to involve finding your franchise quarterback (or someone close to that level), then paying big money to the defense and the skill position players to maximize the roster. You have to pull this off in the available window before you give big, historic money to the quarterback in their second contract. We’ve seen some outliers to this model in recent years, but for the most part, that’s what NFL teams are trying to do.

The NBA, however, is different for myriad reasons. It’s apples and mangos when dealing with the collective bargaining agreement, roster sizes and general player empowerment when it comes to the two leagues.

As this new CBA has entered the fray for the NBA, we’re seeing a more calculated approach by a lot of teams. The roster restrictions and penalties (not just monetarily anymore) of hitting the luxury tax and the first or second apron associated with that level of spending have already scared off two teams in the Western Conference.

The Clippers decided it wasn’t worth it to constrict what the roster might be able to do if they gave the four-year max to Paul George. Now he’s headed to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Warriors made the tough decision of letting Klay Thompson know they couldn’t value him in a way that puts them into the dreaded second apron. Now we’re watching him take his boat to another West team.

These are the tough decisions teams are finding themselves facing as they mull whether what they have is not only worth the tax payment, but also worth the restrictions in retooling the roster. For the Clippers and Warriors, they were no longer close enough to a title to justify sticking with the core and the status quo.

Four teams, however, seem to be looking at this new CBA and challenging it.

• The first was the Phoenix Suns last year, when they decided to bring in Bradley Beal to pair with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker. Despite the new CBA designed to ruin the idea of super teams, Mat Ishbia and company decided they weren’t going to be told how they’re allowed to construct a championship contender. Unfortunately for them, they quickly found out how difficult it is to sign minimum guys to round out a championship-level rotation. By the time we reached the playoffs, the flaws were glaring and unavoidable, and Phoenix was swept out of the first round by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Suns were sent back to the drawing board this summer to find minimum-level players who can give Mike Budenholzer the type of rotation to complement the stars on the court. Title hopes have been doused with cold water as they seem stuck unless they move on from Durant, Booker or both. (Remember: Beal is sitting pretty with that no-trade clause.)

• The Boston Celtics have acquired a top-heavy but devastating six-man core in the past year. With a historic contract already thrown toward Jaylen Brown, the Celtics realized they had to keep this window open for a couple of years.

Brown is signed through 2029 with nearly $300 million committed to the reigning NBA Finals MVP. They brought in Jrue Holiday and pretty quickly signed him to an extension that will keep him in Boston until at least summer 2027. He has a $37 million player option for the 2027-2028 season. Kristaps Porziņģis has two more years with the Celtics under contract for $60 million. Derrick White was just given a four-year extension worth nearly $130 million. And now Jayson Tatum has received his historic supermax deal that should keep him with the franchise until 2030 or so. And it looks like Wyc Grousbeck will get to shed the bill by selling his stake in the team, not having to make any of the tough decisions down the road on where to cut costs when the CBA comes calling for parts of this roster and collecting billions as a hero owner who brought multiple titles back to Boston.

• The Sixers know the constraints of this CBA, but they’re still going for the three-star approach. Daryl Morey believes the mix of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and soon-to-be-signed George is the right balance of what his team needs.

They’re adding Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon and Jared McCain to the bunch, and Kelly Oubre Jr. was brought back from last season’s team as well. But in this process of bringing these three stars together, Morey is still tasked with filling out a roster with mostly minimum-level signings — and competing with other contenders or hopeful contenders in wooing those difference-makers who might be willing to take a massive discount in the pursuit of a championship.

The problem for the Sixers is they don’t have anybody to truly sell these prospective signings on a definite path of contention to put them over the top. Embiid’s health and playoff performance will always be in question until he proves it shouldn’t be. George has made a couple of conference finals but never truly contended. The Sixers could find themselves in a less dramatic but similar situation as Phoenix has the last two summers.

• The fourth team flying its Venmo account in the face of the CBA is the Oklahoma City Thunder, and that’s where we get back to more of that NFL model of building.

The Thunder have one of the youngest teams in the NBA, yet they just finished a season with the top seed in the crowded West and a second-round playoff appearance. That’s a massive step forward from the previous year of 40 wins and not making it through the Play-In Tournament. They have so much young talent still developing in real-time.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is under contract until the summer of 2027 when he’ll be receiving his own historic contract (the Thunder hope from them). A year from now, the Thunder will likely be dropping max extensions on Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the two other stars next to Gilgeous-Alexander. They have a window of probably three or four years before the CBA comes knocking at the door of the Thunder’s front offices.

It’s why you see the big-money signing of Isaiah Hartenstein to add some heft to balance out their attack. It’s why you saw them trade Josh Giddey for Alex Caruso, despite Caruso being an unrestricted free agent next summer. The Thunder see their window before the small-market team has to make some very tough decisions in how they either pay the tax or keep the team together (or both). They almost have to make these bold, high-cost, short-term moves before those extensions hit, because the new CBA is not designed to help teams that built the right way stick together.

More teams are likely to replicate what the Sixers or Celtics or Suns are trying than the Thunder because it’s really difficult to have the young player acquisition OKC has pulled off over the last couple years. But it’ll be fascinating to see how teams approach the CBA in the next couple years.

(Photo of Jayson Tatum and Kevin Durant: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)