The NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement has teams looking for cheaper, alternative paths to constructing a roster. In both Kobe Brown and D’Moi Hodge’s case, it helped them become pros.
One of the biggest changes in the new CBA is that, in addition to the luxury tax threshold, in which teams are financially penalized for spending a certain amount of money above the NBA’s salary cap, there will now be a second apron in which teams that spend more than $17.5 million more than the luxury tax threshold will lose some of their roster-building maneuvers, such as the ability to use certain exceptions to sign players in free agency, the ability to sign players who are bought out of their contracts mid-season and the ability to trade future draft picks.
The Los Angeles Clippers had the league’s highest payroll last season, spending $191,189,304 on its players, more than $65 million above the salary cap, and have historically been content to pay high luxury tax numbers under the old CBA. But to avoid hitting the second tax apron once the new CBA goes into effect on July 1, the team will have to trade away some of its more expensive players. And with a pair of all-star wings in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, the Clippers still need surrounding talent that can help them contend for a championship.
L.A.’s selection of Brown with the 30th overall pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday was a little puzzling at first glance. There were younger players available who might’ve had more long-term upside than Brown. But in context, Brown appears to be a good fit for the Clippers.
“I didn't see it coming. I was actually shocked by it,” said Rafael Barlowe, the Director of Scouting for NBA Big Board. “I thought that it was a good move by the Clippers. I thought his age would work against him because he's 23 now and he'll turn 24 during the season, I believe on January 1. But I thought it was a good move. I mean, he was one of the more efficient players in the country, shot over 53% from the floor, 45% from 3 and the Clippers are in win-now mode. So I think it makes sense to take a guy like Brown over someone that may need some time to develop.”
Brown will make a little more than $2 million in each of the first two seasons of his contract, both of which are guaranteed — extremely inexpensive relative to the other salaries the Clippers are currently paying. And given the injury histories of Leonard and George, the two combining to play in just 350 out of a possible 656 regular season games during their four years in L.A, Brown can provide depth at the forward spot without sacrificing financial flexibility.
“I will probably say that I was the only mainstream mock draft that had Kobe Brown projected in the first round,” said Bryan Kalbrosky, a national NBA staff writer for USA Today/ForTheWin. “I think that people are looking for rookie deals now for guys who can play, guys who can step in and play for the next four years on cost-controlled deals … And so Kobe, I thought, was actually a really smart pick up by them because, in a vacuum, is he the 30th-most talented player in this draft? Probably not. But in reality, he is somebody who can fit a need for the Clippers and get on the court next season and play well without the ball in his hands and still make an impact as soon as next year.”
Another small but significant change to the CBA is that teams will be allowed to carry an extra player on a two-way deal — a contract that allows them to split their time between the NBA and G League — expanding to three slots instead of just two. The Los Angeles Lakers have had a lot of recent success using two-way deals, finding productive players who went undrafted. Austin Reaves, for instance, signed a two-way after the 2021 draft and was promoted to a standard NBA contract one month later. This year, the 6-foot-5 guard started in all 16 of the Lakers’ postseason games, averaging 16.6 points, and was selected to Team USA’s roster for the FIBA World Cup.
Hodge will hope to be the Lakers’ next underrated signee, agreeing to a two-way deal minutes after the 2023 draft concluded. After making 40% of his 3-pointers at Mizzou last season, the Lakers will look to him to help space the floor for their pair of all-star forwards, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
“I just expect that, when his number's called, that he's gonna have to knock down shots,” Barlowe said. “If he can knock down shots, he'll gain LeBron's trust. And you know, if you gain LeBron's trust that you're going to see some minutes on the floor. I think he has a pretty projectable and easy role to fill. So I think the Lakers got really good value with him.”
“I expect guys on two-ways to be getting legitimate playing time next season. I expect them to be making an impact on the floor. I expect them to be, you know, playing minutes that matter, especially for a team like the Lakers that will presumably be hoping to contend next year,” Kalbrosky said. “I think that guys like D'Moi who can shoot the ball and those sorts of things can really make an impact on that two-way deal because, you know, you talk about cost-controlled contracts, the two-wy contract is the most valuable contract in the NBA from a cost-per-dollar perspective. And so, the Lakers, I think, got three of the top 20 or 25 best undrafted free agents with D'Moi being probably a top-10, top-15 guy there.”
Brown and Hodge will get their first taste of NBA competition when they take part in Summer League in Las Vegas, Nev., tipping off on July 7.
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