We could easily replicate or do worse than the 2008 crisis, and the only reason there was a 100k “increase” in the cap that year is that they used the 5% escalator clause - revenues did shrink and the “real effective” salary of players (when factoring in inflation) did decrease. This was after a similar run of massive % increases year-over-year. While I do suspect that the baked-in increases due to covid recapture will similarly prevent a decrease even in a very bad scenario for the economy, the increases (and the gigantic rumoured rights deals in the wake of a hypothetical economic cataclysm) are very much still in question. Some GM’s are choosing to operate conservatively given the circumstances.