This is peak extension season in the NBA.
Or, as one agent told ESPN this week: "The torture chamber."
The deadline for extensions for most eligible players is Monday at 6 p.m. ET. At this point, it's commonplace for there to be pessimism about deals getting done. But compromises -- and deals, along with them -- do happen regularly.
That said, even by normal standards, there is a lot of pessimism right now.
Here's why: There's the continued adaptation to the apron system, which has caused teams to be even more careful about long-term spending.