New CBA rule could help Raptors compete in Eastern Conference

The Toronto Raptors feel the sting of the NBA’s lack of financial fair play every single year. Not only does crossing the border, higher taxes, and the weather make them less attractive in free agency, but ownership has been unwilling to dip into the luxury tax in recent seasons.

While there are competitive reasons as to why this current core may not stay 100% together, the financial roadblocks are one of the main obstacles. While it feels unfair that some teams have a license to print money and the Raptors must abide by some of their own restrictions, the newest collective bargaining agreements could make things a bit more even.

Adrian Wojnarowski confirmed that in the new CBA, teams who go above a second luxury tax apron will not be allowed to send away cash in trades, move their first-round picks seven years in the future, or sign players in the buyout market. They will also be banned from using the mid-level taxpayer exemption.

Every sports league wants parity and every team competing on the same level ground. These moves from the league should be everything Toronto could have hoped for, as they are on slightly better footing when it comes to competing with the big boys in the Eastern Conference and NBA as a whole.

The Toronto Raptors may compete more after new CBA

Of the nine teams currently in the luxury tax, two of them (Nets, Celtics) are in Toronto’s division. While the Raptors still need to make sure they don’t end up in this dreaded second tier, they could end up with an unexpected windfall of new acquisitions as a result of this decision.

Teams on the edge of this second apron might not be willing to give one of their stars a long-term deal, opening up stars and star adjacent players to the Raptors that would have never found themselves on the open market in Toronto’s field of view. Will teams like Boston stay together after these new rules?

With the NFL building itself around trying to make it as easy as possible for bad teams to rebuild quickly and MLB moving to a lottery draft system after revamping the international scouting system, parity is reigning supreme across sports. These latest moves will help teams like the Raptors compete with the richer owners and franchises in this sport.