NBA's 2017-18 Salary Cap Projection Reportedly Dips to $102 Million
The NBA's salary cap projection for the 2017-18 season is $102 million, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, falling from the expected $107 million projection.
That could have a major impact on organizations going forward, as Zach Lowe of ESPN noted:
Pincus offered more context on the shifting expectation of the cap:
"For the 2015-16 season, the NBA will pay out an additional $130.9 million to players for falling below the 50.83 percent share of $2.689 billion due to the players—which, by the rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), helped push the 2016-17 salary up to $94.1 million.
The NBA now expects teams to spend more this season, with the higher salary cap and luxury tax threshold ($113.3 million). The league also didn’t expect quite as much high-level spending on free agents this July.
A reduced shortfall translates to a lower expected salary cap for 2017-18. The league also projects a tax threshold of $122 million for next year.
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Kevin Pelton of ESPN came to a similar conclusion:
Pincus added "the salary cap projects to climb to $108 million in 2018-19, $109 million in 2019-20 and $114 million in 2020-21," however.
Still, the 2017 offseason was expected to be the summer of the superstar, with Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook all potentially hitting the market and earning gigantic deals. Indeed, players like James and Durant have been signing short-term deals with the specific intent of being free agents next summer and cashing in on the expanded salary cap.
That strategy seemed to be a smart one after this summer, when teams handed out enormous contracts to players far below the status of the game's top stars.
The top players seem likely to get their money regardless of where the cap settles, but as Lowe noted, it could affect teams who planned on having more financial wiggle room next season, or mid-tier stars who were expecting major offers next summer.
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