Even before the NBA season started earlier this month, the drama was already in mid-season form. Minnesota Timberwolves star Jimmy Butler met with coach and team president Tom Thibodeau and reiterated a desire he’d expressed this summer to be dealt.

The news leaked, hot takes were so gallantly streaming, and sports media’s bottomless maw had a new chew toy. Every party in the story was ripped as culpable for the Butler/Minnesota divorce: Butler; his teammates; the front office; the owner; the media. But the true villain in this story gets off scot-free, as always. What’s wrong with the Butler situation is what’s wrong with the NBA: the salary cap.

The salary cap is a somewhat-flexible limit the league imposes on team payrolls. The figure changes every year and is calculated according to changes in the NBA’s basketball-related income (BRI). This year the cap is just under $102 million per team. Usually cap changes are modest, but two years ago new media rights values saw it jump from $69 million to $91 million; with the NBA’s embrace of legalized sports betting, the cap is likely to rise again.