How are the top 8 teams paying the luxury tax this season? The Warriors have the worst record

Preface

In order to build a championship-worthy roster, most teams are inseparable from the luxury tax, and only young teams such as the Timberwolves and Thunder can avoid taxes and compete for championships at the same time by relying on the rookie contracts of their stars. With the fall of the regular season, the rankings of each team this season have been set, and according to media statistics, a total of 8 teams in the league have exceeded the luxury tax threshold this season.

At present, the situation of these 8 teams is also very different, like the Nuggets, they only need to pay 12.6 million luxury tax, but they are still the biggest favorites to win the championship in the minds of most people, so let's take a look at who these 8 teams are and see what their championship prospects are.

8. Lakers (2.8 million)

Eighth in the West

Last offseason, the Lakers can be said to have done their best to strengthen within the rules, but limited by the salary cap, they don't have much space to sign enough stars to help them complete their transformation, and it is not easy to keep Reaves, Russell, and Hachimura, but since the contracts of these three are not large, the Lakers do not need to pay too much luxury tax.

On paper, they were clearly stronger than last season, but unfortunately they suffered too many injuries during the regular season, and important role players such as Vincent, Biao and Wood missed a lot of games. However, although the Lakers are only ranked eighth in the West, there is still no team that dares to underestimate them, and they still have the possibility of counterattacking in the play-offs and playoffs with the two superstars of James and thick eyebrows.

7. Heat (9.4 million)

Eighth in the East

Although looking at the lineup, the Heat are very average, but Butler, Adebayo, Duncan Robinson, and Herro can get big contracts. It was precisely because the salaries of the core players took up the salary cap that they lost Vincent and Strus last offseason, and so that the Heat's annual reinforcements could only be found through base salary and draft bargaining.

The Heat's regular season record has also dropped compared to last year due to a decline in the overall roster, and they have now lost home-court advantage in their first play-in game. Although the Heat went all the way from eighth to the finals last year, their lineup has declined again this season, so most people are still not optimistic about them.

6. Nuggets (12.6 million)

Western 2nd

If you look at the bench lineup, the Nuggets' bench can be said to be the worst of these strong teams in the league, but there is no way, who makes their star Jokic, under his leadership, even the worst players have the opportunity to stand on the court to help the team. In addition to Jokic, Murray is also a very good player, and his contract is not particularly large.

Although the Nuggets' record in the regular season is not particularly outstanding, in the playoffs their advantage will become more obvious, when everyone shortens the rotation, whichever team has the highest star level will have a chance to win the championship.

5. Stag (16.9 million)

Third in the East

In order to strengthen last offseason, the Bucks did not hesitate to trade away the 2021 championship hero Holiday in order to strengthen it, but now it seems that Lillard in exchange for him does not have too strong chemistry with his brother. The Bucks' form this season has also been up and down, even though they have been working hard since the regular season this year, their record has declined compared to the past, and the last time the Bucks won less than 50+ in the regular season was a shrunken season in 2020-2021.

Now look at the Bucks' championship prospects this season, not to mention that they are compared with the Celtics, who are the first to break the gear, they may not even be able to beat the Knicks and the 76ers, but fortunately, they are facing the "soft persimmon" young team Pacers in the first round, but they still can't be careless, their record against the Pacers in the regular season this season is only 1-3, and the only win is by Brother Alphabet to score 64 points.

4. Celtics (18.4 million)

First in the East

The Celtics, the only team to win more than 60 games this season, are the only team to have won more than 60 games, and it would be a no-brainer to see their decision to trade Porzingis last offseason, with the latter's arrival completely filling up the team's last shortcoming, and the addition of Holiday has also given the team a noticeable improvement on both ends of the floor.

Looking at the lineup on paper, there is hardly any team in the league that can compare to this Celtics team, and their starting lineup is too balanced, with five players who can attack and defend. However, if the Celtics want to win the championship, they also have obvious hidden dangers, that is, the level of the number one star is insufficient, Tatum's ability in key games is still much worse than Jokic, Brother Alphabet and others, and even he may not have the current James and Durant.

3. Sun (26.2 million)

Sixth in the West

In order to compete for the championship, the Suns also made a lot of money, and last year in order to trade Durant for a trade, they not only sent away Bridges and others, but also sent 4 first-rounders, and then in the offseason they got a significant premium Beal. Now it seems that these decisions of the Suns are clearly not quite right, especially regarding the Beal deal, unless they can win the championship, it will definitely be a loss.

After the finale, the Suns also locked up the sixth place in the West, and it can be said that looking at the prospects of the playoffs, their road is not the most difficult, at least they will not meet the defending champion Nuggets in the first two rounds. However, the Suns are not scheduled to make a Western Conference final now, they still have obvious shortcomings, and if Beal makes another leap in the playoffs, they will not be able to compete with other strong teams.

2. Clippers (34.8 million)

Fourth in the West

Since 2019, the Clippers have been investing in winning the championship, except for George and Leonard, the other players have almost changed one after another, but unfortunately they have not been able to fulfill this wish until now. This season, the Clippers traded Harden to form a Big Four lineup, and they also had a period of "sweet period" in the middle of the season, but unfortunately the subsequent losing streak still allowed other teams to discover their weaknesses.

In terms of interior and forward, the Clippers' roster reserves are not enough, except for Zubac on the inside, whether Theis and Plumley can play in the playoffs is the same thing, and forward Leonard and George have not yet qualified benches, especially Leonard, who is simply too important for the Clippers. In the first round against the Mavericks, the gap between the Clippers and their strength is not large, and this round of the series is likely to play the sixth game, or even the tie-break, and it is really impossible to say who wins and who loses in the end.

1. Warriors (40.3 million)

Western 10th

The last is the Warriors, this season they can be said to pay the most taxes, next to the hardest hits, the team lineup Curry, Thompson, Green, Paul, Wiggins all have big contracts, but the state of these five players has declined too much compared to their peak, and it can even be said that in addition to Curry, the other four are completely unworthy of their contracts.

The players in the roster are old, injured, and inexperienced, and the Warriors team highlights an all-round difference, if it weren't for their system being good, like some rookies who can also play a role in the regular season, they are likely to have fallen out of the play-offs. If the Warriors want to make the playoffs this year, they will have to win two consecutive road games, and their first opponent is the Kings, and this group of matchups is expected to be very intense.