David Kelly is already pointing at the pressure point in the NBA's new cap world.
At his introductory press conference, the incoming NBPA executive director said the system should not force players to absorb the cost of roster continuity. "Our position would be that the system should not require a player to carry all that burden," Kelly said, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.
Kelly went further, saying the CBA should not put a player in position where "he has to carry the burden in order to keep a team together." His line was aimed at the second apron era, where expensive homegrown cores can become financial traps even when teams draft and develop well.
He also backed a Brad Stevens idea that would let teams pay a full maximum contract with supermax eligibility while counting that deal as only 25 percent of the salary cap. Kelly said that could help teams keep drafted players or Bird-rights players without removing player choice.
That does not mean a rule change is close. It does show where the union may push next: protect salaries, keep movement alive, and stop the second apron from making a star's contract feel like the reason a roster has to break.
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