How has the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement affected the Nets?

The Brooklyn Nets have been looking for the best way to move forward as a franchise after the Big Three era ends in 2022-23. After Brooklyn traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks last month, they’ve had to simultaneously find a way to navigate the new CBA and their direction.

In a recent article by Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report, he analyzed how the new CBA has affected each team, especially the brutal restrictions that affect teams in the first or second lane. For those wondering, according to Pincus, the Nets were marginally affected by the new salary cap rules, and that’s true when compared to other teams.

The Nets currently have a hard cap hit after trading Bridges to the Knicks, as Brooklyn acquired point guard Shake Milton in a sign-and-trade deal. As of this writing, the Nets are $5.2 million below the cap hit, so assuming they don’t add more salary than they send out, they’ll avoid paying the rep tax after being one of the most expensive teams in the NBA from 2020-21 through 2022-23.

Considering what the Nets managed to do this offseason, like trading Bridges for five first-round picks and three players and re-signing center Nic Claxton to a four-year, $97 million deal, this summer has been great for them. More importantly, given that there are still a lot of veterans on the roster, it’s likely that the rebuilding Brooklyn team will have to try even harder.