You missed some headlines. The Sixers traded the broken Paul George for Jaylen Brown.

It seems that the new Celtics ownership is operating on the idea that the second apron will become a de facto hard cap for NBA payrolls and that existing contracts are not providing a good enough value. On his own last year, Brown was earning his max contract, but apparently having both Brown and Tatum on the court together is not worth paying 2 max contracts.

Other teams seem to be agreeing with them about the second apron being mutually assured destruction, but it could all be cover to force players to take less money.