NBA executives consistently repeated this sentiment during Las Vegas Summer League in July: Unless there is a boom on the trade front, most teams will need to be content with their rosters for the next two seasons.
The reasons: A combined $4 billion spent on more than 150 players in the month of July, a limited number of teams with 2020 cap space and an average at best free-agent class. Also consider that teams such as the New York Knicks, who could have $50 million in cap space, likely will bypass the free-agency game and wait until 2021, when we could see a historic group.
On the surface, a projected $300 million in cap space available in the summer of 2020 would mean that there will be a repeat to the carousel of player movement we just witnessed. However, as we begin to examine next offseason, that's appearing not to be the case.