NBA's Salary Cap for 2015-16 Season Reportedly Rises to $70 Million

The NBA's salary cap was projected to climb into the $67 million range for the 2015-16 season, but according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski and Bleacher Report's Howard Beck, the official figure will trump the anticipated one by a sizable margin: 

Beck also provided a comprehensive overview of new cutoff points for various salary-cap exceptions and luxury-tax thresholds:

Furthermore, players who are set to ink max contracts (i.e. LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol and Co.) once the league's moratorium period ends July 9 will now earn even more thanks to the unexpected increase, per Beck:  

While superstars will benefit immensely, teams set to make massive luxury-tax payments will also acquire some relief because of the rising cap, as former Brooklyn Nets executive Bobby Marks explained:  

The Nets are big winners here, as Marks noted, namely because they are facing the possibility of paying "the most punitive luxury penalty in league history," according to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst. 

According to Basketball Insiders' Moke Hamilton, the cap spike is the largest the league has seen in a decade: 

With the moratorium ending, teams can now spend a bit more freely as they seek to finalize agreements and fill out their rosters. That means players who were at risk of being traded in salary dumps to make room for high-priced free agents may now be safe depending on how much room the franchise had to begin with.

USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt also reported the "NBA will make a shortfall payment of $57,298,826 to NBPA for distribution to players," after salaries accounted for less than 50.39 percent of total basketball-related income. 

And after the players union rejected a salary-cap smoothing proposal in March, the projected cap line for the 2016-17 season is expected to make another jump somewhere into the $80-90 million range.  

There's never been a better time to be an NBA player.