NBA Free Agency 2020: Advantage Golden State Warriors as rivals cry foul over the reduced luxury tax

The NBA and NBPA have finally come to an agreement and have decided to start the 2020-21 season on the 22nd of December, 2020. With the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still being felt, the league is likely to experience a fall in its revenue. That, in turn, could affect the spending power of teams like the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Free Agency 2020.

In an effort to mitigate the pandemic-induced financial ramifications, the NBA recently announced a change in the salary cap and luxury tax rules that teams need to abide by. Let's take a look at these changes and how they could benefit the Golden State Warriors ahead of next season.

NBA Free Agency 2020: What are the changes announced by the NBA?

With the NBA Free Agency 2020 officially due to begin from the 20th of November, franchises around the league seemed increasingly worried about entering this phase with a reduced source of revenue.

In order to help franchises in this regard, the NBA announced new rules on the salary cap and luxury tax. While the salary cap and luxury tax remain the same as that of last year, i.e. $109.14 million and $132.627 million respectively, the tax payments each franchise has to make after crossing the luxury tax threshold will be reduced significantly.

This is possibly a significant victory for the Warriors and rival teams are already upset (again). https://t.co/lyNv3EJgGe
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) November 10, 2020

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In other words, franchises from around the league can now feel far more comfortable crossing the luxury tax limit in NBA Free Agency 2020, as the league strives to make it increasingly affordable for the teams to do so.

With this new relief coming into play, we could see several franchises from around the league go after bigger names this off-season, and as a result, the landscape of the NBA could change significantly ahead of the 2020-21 season.

NBA Free Agency 2020: How do the Golden State Warriors benefit the most from the new tax relief?

Before the rule change, the revenue situation was looking extremely dire for the Golden State Warriors. With the team's core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins alone totalling $130.1 million, it seemed that the team had no choice but to be passive in NBA Free Agency 2020.

Couple that with the fact that the Golden State Warriors have not have been able to recoup the money spent on building Chase Center due to the COVID-19 pandemic hitting their finances, any hope they had of landing an NBA superstar this off-season were minimal if not non-existent.

However, with the new tax relief, the Golden State Warriors stand to benefit massively. NBA insider and ESPN analyst Bobby Marks recently tweeted about the franchise's good fortune ahead of the NBA Free Agency 2020.

For example: If Golden State used the $17.2M trade exception and revenue decreased by 30%, they could save close to $50M. This will help out the Warriors, Boston, Brooklyn and Philadelphia plus possibly a team like Milwaukee. https://t.co/uxII5oQXzl
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) November 10, 2020

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With the luxury tax situation now greatly favoring the Golden State Warriors, teams from around the league are apprehensive about what the franchise could pull off not only in the NBA Free Agency 2020 but in trades with other teams as well, and quite rightly so.

Considering the nous of the Golden State Warriors' front office and the assets the franchise has at their disposal ahead of the upcoming NBA Free Agency 2020, the Warriors could assemble an almost unbeatable team ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season.