The following morning, at dawn, Heather wakes up to news of the team that originally picked at #23 having signed the draftee, picked at #28, whose rights they obtained by trading away #23. And for a salary that seemed to be a lowball one, even for a rookie picked at #28. They traded away what amounts to pick #23 for pick #28 and cash considerations.

Around the breakfast table, Heather starts discussing the signing in question, because there was no real splash being made last night.

"Woohoo! They finally signed its first-rounder!" Heather shouts for joy.

"Why are you so excited for your favorite team's first-rounder to be signed?" Albert shrugs as he sees his sister getting excited for what he feels is relatively minor.

"At this point in the offseason, the big names are either already extended, if they stay, or will go through sign-and-trades if they don't!"

"I get it, often rookies don't play a whole lot of minutes, even if they cracked the rotation..."

"They managed to sign him without hitting the second apron, but they needed to essentially sign him for as little as the rookie scale rules allowed them to: any more than that and they would have hit the second apron. Yet, they can't even sign a ten-day contract without hitting the second apron if they do nothing else..."

"Do they still have players left to re-sign?" Lana asks Heather.

"Mom has a point. However, there are two key concepts to understand what teams can do with their own players, the cap hold and, more importantly, Bird rights!"

If they re-sign everyone for their cap holds, they won't even have $50k left of space underneath the second apron. That's not enough to sign even a single 10-day, since a 10-day is at least ~$70k, give or take. But, in practice, cap holds are often for much bigger amounts than the amount they sign for, Heather starts thinking of what that signing implies for her favorite team.

"Heather, before you continue talking about Bird rights, cap holds, and all that, I need to ask: why do you follow the business side of the sport with such fanaticism, beyond basketball being a team sport?" Albert confronts her while rolling his eyes upon hearing about cap holds and Bird rights.

"Al, as a defensive tackle in football, you know by now that no one can do everything in a team sport. That properly building a roster is key to get the most out of everyone..."

"The problem is: basketball is much more star-driven, and players like this... pick number twenty-eight!" Al gets interrupted.

Heather screams what the name of that player Albert referred to as pick number #28 is in front of everyone. After that name is finished:

"You made it sound as if he wasn't paid nearly as much as the starters... but why should I care about their salaries? I'd rather care about how they fit with each other in games over that stuff!"

"Yeah, son, there's wanting to root for a team and wanting what's best for it, but as much as a sport has a ruleset in games, you must remember that pro sports are a business, and industries have their regulations, too..." Cody lectures them.

"But, if you ever love a player, usually because of his game, and is either traded away or signs with someone else in free agency, it makes you wonder what made this happen..." Heather retorts.

"Is one of these situations how you fell in love with the transactional aspect of pro sports?" Albert asks his sister.

"Finally, you got a clue! But I can't tell you about who just yet..."

"I heard you talk about cap holds. What exactly are these, and why does that exist?" Lana asks, rolling her eyes.

"Unlike in football, where players don't take up cap space until they're signed, in basketball, they do. A cap hold is, simply put, the cap hit of an unsigned player until he's signed, traded away or his current team renounces his rights!"

There are rules for determining a player's cap hold, but I won't bore him with that, Heather keeps to herself as her brother is about to ask a question about the purpose of cap holds.

"Why assign a cap hit to someone not under contract?" Lana asks, rolling her eyes. "It seems to be pretty counterintuitive to me!"

"It's to prevent teams from signing free agents before re-signing their own players!"

Heather starts praying that her favorite team either re-signs one of their players for less than their cap hold or trades one away in a sign-and-trade deal. The main ones who re-sign for more than their cap holds tend to be players whose previous contracts were minimums, and cracked the rotation. If push comes to shove, letting go of someone else might do the trick. But some don't get paid all that much.

At the same time, the conversation turns to the minutiae of cap hold rules and how the types of Bird rights play into these. Namely early and full Bird rights, as well as the contract terms teams can offer players, with the latter being more generous, but at the same time, come with a higher cap hold, and a longer period spent without hitting free agency or the waiver wire.

"Like I get that Bird rights are a mechanism to reward player loyalty to teams. But for some reason, I feel like NBA players keep demanding trades left and right!" Albert's confusion starts to show on his face.

"Well, a few NFL players do, too, but a lot of backup players go in and give their all, knowing that their next game may prove to be their last as a professional!" Cody comments on what could account for the difference in player attitudes between the two leagues.

"Heather, stop pestering me with sports business talk!" Albert lashes out at his sister, yelling at her even.

"I think I have covered everything I feel is relevant this week, before the free agency period begins next week! So you'll have a few days free of... sports business talk!" Heather retorts to her brother. "It's just too complicated to tell everything in one go!"

After his sister answers him, Albert starts thinking of things that could send his sister away from him, or, alternatively, keeping him away from her.

Last night, I studied for the SAT with Daisy and her gang. Math mostly, so I guess the time has come to practice some reading and English questions whenever I can. Like during breaks at the hardware store... Albert realizes he must get ready to work as soon as breakfast ends. Or maybe practice with my football teammates, like Qian, the middle linebacker, and Richter, a defensive end, after work.

When his workday at the hardware store starts, in the early morning, Albert meets with his boss, another VA booster, and asks him something for the rest of the day:

"Albert, someone in the afternoon shift has called in sick. Can you please work until closing time today?" his boss asks him.

So I wonder where Heather will be by that time, and I really hope I won't have to endure more talk of stuff such as cap holds and cap exceptions, a train of thoughts crosses Albert's mind as he ponders whether to work the requested extra hours. Then again, she didn't unpack all this stuff at once. If she keeps quiet about that for the rest of the week, it's already going to be a big win.

"I guess, I have no choice if I want to last the whole summer here..." Albert sighs, before getting to work to stock power tool shelves.

But his coworkers realize that something is amiss with him. Sure, he'd still stock power tool shelves, or fetch them for customers unable to safely retrieve them, yet his mood just wasn't the same as even a week ago. So as he attempts a few practice SAT verbal questions through a service of daily questions Daisy and her gang all subscribe to, on mobile, his coworker in the outdoors section sees him not being the same as he used to be, upon arriving in the lunchroom.

"My parents made me study for the ACT when I'm not due to take it until March!" Albert laments, not suspecting that something else is gnawing at him, and he's not comfortable talking about to his coworkers just yet.

"Your parents only want what's best for you. I'm afraid I can't help you with that..." the outdoors section clerk sighs.

As much as he could be trying to answer the question in front of him, the frustration of being unable to answer it surfaces, "That question... I don't understand anything, damn it!"

"Try another question..."

"I guess..." Albert sighs, and then moves on to another question in the daily set.

This time around, Albert seems to be more comfortable with the question, so that his frustration with the inability to answer the previous one melts away. I may as well text Daisy about the previous question.

After doing so, the outdoors section clerk comments about his academic life, and how it differed from both his teammates' and his opponents'.

"You seem to be on top of things..."

"My grades aren't the best, but I can hold my own in class!"

"Do you realize that you have it much better than our football opponents, or even your own teammates?"

"I mean, Qian dates one of VA's star debaters for a reason..."

And Richter was Sadie's previous boyfriend. However, Sadie's the worst lover I ever saw. She makes me wary of dating any of my study companions, Albert is reminded of Qian's girlfriend, and what that could mean for him if he wanted to date either Anna or Daisy. Especially since he knows how smart they are.

"That sort of stuff is unthinkable at our football opponents!"

"You think our football opponents don't date girls that smart?"

"Some of them think there's just too much learning taking place at VA, and that a football player studying for the SAT in the off-season is a foreign concept to them! They seem content with simply passing courses, or getting an ACT score they deem adequate..."

Albert then texts Richter a link to sign up for the free service of daily SAT/ACT practice questions, before returning to work, in hopes that he takes it.

That night, as Heather is practicing with a few others who are poised to make the basketball teams at school next season, Logan, VA's best boys' basketball player, and their impromptu coach for the night, makes an offer to her:

"You're so going to become the middle school girls' team's star player this year!" Logan tries to cheer Heather up. "I invite you to join the town's fantasy basketball league!"

"What makes you think I can play fantasy basketball on top of playing basketball?" Heather rolls her eyes.

"Did you ask Chantal first?" Carrie, Logan's younger sister, asks him about whether his girlfriend accepted to join the fantasy basketball league.

"Chantal declined to join the league, and honestly, I can't blame her" Logan answers his little sister's question, then turns to Heather. "We have one spot left, and most of the players we have now are either current or former VA basketball players, or family of such..."

"I might need some info about the details of the league please..."

Logan texts Heather a link to the fantasy basketball league's ground rules before starting a new drill between his little sister and her basketball-playing friends, all of whom are poised to make the VAs' middle school basketball team.

If only I could get along with Albert like Logan does with Carrie... but at least he went a little longer this time around before yelling at me to stop talking about the transactional aspect of basketball! Heather ruminates before the drill begins.

Which is about rim protection, while, at the same time, ensuring they don't stay in the paint for more than three seconds. For sure, Heather made the life of both Audrey and Cora, also rising seventh graders, difficult in the paint when she's on the defensive.

But when on the offensive, while the seventh graders are able to deal with Carrie just fine, the height difference between Heather and Audrey as well as Cora makes it much more difficult for them to protect the rim effectively.

A few more drills later, Logan tells Heather about what he sees in her:

"With you, I have the chance to show the other players that it's never too young to play fantasy sports!" Logan tells Heather as he's himself on the younger side of the league.

"Isn't it a little early?" Heather asks, with steam seemingly getting out of her ears.

"Not really. Even though fantasy basketball leagues usually don't start until well after free agency begins, we want to give adequate time for new and returning players to decide! You tend to think beyond simply yourself on the court..."

Heather then reads the rules of the league before she decides whether to commit. The league's salary cap is where the second apron is. I can live with no player earning more than a fifth of the cap, when you have 15 players to roster. But how are salaries set then?

"I think I might need some time to think it over..."