While the official numbers from the NBA aren’t yet in, Bobby Marks of ESPN estimates (via Twitter) that the Warriors led all teams in 2023/24 with a luxury tax bill in the neighborhood of $176.9MM.
Golden State was subject once again to the “repeater” tax penalties this season, meaning that every dollar spent above the luxury tax line cost them more than a first-time taxpayer. The Warriors paid roughly $206MM in player salaries, meaning their roster as a whole cost more than $380MM. They didn’t make the playoffs, having been eliminated in the first play-in game by Sacramento.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Luxury Tax Penalties]
The Warriors weren’t alone among teams that are on the hook for tax payments without a playoff series win to show for it. Of the eight taxpayers, only two (the Celtics and Nuggets) made it beyond the first round of the postseason, with only one Boston advancing past the second round. Unlike Golden State, the Clippers, Suns, Bucks, Heat, and Lakers all made the playoffs, but they were each eliminated in the conference quarterfinals.
Here are the estimated tax penalties for 2023/24, according to Marks:
- Golden State Warriors: $176.9MM
- Los Angeles Clippers: $142.4MM
- Phoenix Suns: $68.2MM
- Milwaukee Bucks: $52.5MM
- Boston Celtics: $43.8MM
- Denver Nuggets: $20.2MM
- Miami Heat: $15.7MM
- Los Angeles Lakers: $6.9MM
Half of those tax payments get distributed among non-taxpaying teams, so those 22 clubs should each receive a little less than $12MM, Marks observes.
That payout for non-taxpayers serves to highlight why some teams who were hovering around the luxury tax line earlier in the season made a concerted effort to duck below – or stay below – that threshold. For instance, the Pelicans finished the season below the tax line by less than $400K after initially moving out of tax territory by salary-dumping Kira Lewis‘ expiring contract back in January. That cost-cutting move didn’t just save Pels ownership a tax payment — it also ensured that the team will receive that extra $12MM.
The tax line for 2024/25 is projected to be just north of $171MM, and while many of the teams listed above project to once again be taxpayers next spring, at least a couple of them could be in position to avoid the tax next season, including the Warriors.
I know I asked this in another thread, but can someone who is good at this tell me what GSW can do this offseason if this happens:
Trade Wiggins, GP2 and CP3
Let Klay and Looney walk
How much money does that free up, and what kinds of FA’s might be available to them? Thanks in advance…
Davey J I just posted exactly that on the “more in Klay Thompson” news, take a look. You are close but they cant trade for CP3, they need that 30 mil option disappear with no return
As of today GSW have 10 players under contract for 143.6 mill, that excludes 74 mill of CP3 and Klay that had to go without return and the Pl option of GP2 which is of 9.1 mill and assuming he picks that up you have 152.7 with 11 players. Wiggins mades 26.2 mill they need to trade him for a couple of good role players that make about 12 m each and you still would have 20 mill in cap space to add a good player without falling in the tax.
So 3 new good players plus StephDray,Kuminga,Podz and the rest and you have a very decent team if they make good additions. And if you trade Looney and GP2 as you suggest they can improve even more but good luck with that
12M feels too low for a good role player nowadays. You are probably looking at 15-20M now on AAV.
Well you can trade Wiggins to his home country going to Toronto with Payton and Looney for Bruce Brown, Boucher and Gradey Dick. That still gives 5 mil more in cap space for GSW. Let’s say they dont want to give up Dick, you can settle for McDaniels or Agbaji and is about the same money. BB can be the exact role player they need if he goes back close to his level in Denver
Thats a trash trade, Wiggins contract isnt bad they should really look to trade Draymond who has been a shell of himself and makes way too much money
Thanks for that breakdown, so it IS possible for GSW to get another star-level player if Klay and CP3 leave…
jm, I read that other post you wrote. Thx cause it got the ball rolling. I’m in the gone camp of play, cp3 and Wiggins. And I’d like to see gp2 come back. I’ve been a GSW fan since Thurmond and yep, this has been fun. BUT roster reconstruction is definitely needed.
Luke Adams does a good job of breaking down the Warriors’ cap situation in the off-season preview on this very site.
link to hoopsrumors.com
Davey your most likely not getting into open cap this offseason –
That means the most you can offer someone in open free agency is the full MLE which starts at 12.9 mill per season – You can go up to 4 years on that like DDV did last year with the Knicks maxing around 4/55 (factoring the 5% raise years 2-4)
So your biggest contract you’d probably be able to offer is a 4/55 on the market this year to help you look at best player available to possibly pursue ~ Its a not a great MLE market this year either in that range but you can chop it up into smaller pieces if you want
Ofc you can offer Klay anything via Bird rights, hope this helps a little
Wild to see the taxpayers with many ultimately having little postseason success. My Wolves might be the leader after next season…
Lot of people not recognizing GSW lost 12 games by 3 points or less, if they won all of those, they would have finished in 1st place in the west.
LMAO. Yeah if they won games they lost they would be in first, that’s the same for every team.
Imagine paying that much just to not even make the playoffs. Clown show over there thinking they still have a chance with that roster
That isnt what I said, I said they lost 12 games by 1 bucket, you cant deny that is a touch and go game that could have been won or loss by either team. Clown show you are for being this hurt by facts.
Clown show? Wow.
They’ve been paying that tax for years and that same core has 4 rings. Yup a clown show to think they try to get another one lol.
Well, sorry to hear that your team doesn’t spend money. They’re fiscally responsible and stay under the tax line.
We’ll keep mailing the check to you.., get ready for another one next June.
warriors not making post season cost the owner a lot of money is why they are cutting payroll this year. Klay better read this and understand why they can’t hand out blank check anymore.
That new CBA is really going to hamstring a lot of these upcoming teams in the future, not just GSW. It’s really astonishing that CJ McCollum didn’t push harder for a hometown discount for players that a team drafts (their cap hold being less than actual).
BOS is actually in a great position for the next 3-4 years but man, some of these other contenders are going to have to make tough choices in the next 1-2 years.
I’m also super interesting in seeing which teams are willing to go over the cap over the next 5 years. There are def some great ownership groups willing to splurge while we have owners that are closer to what the Oakland Athletics are like and just willing to pocket the tax distibutions.
NBA would have had Fisher sell the team unlike MLB that doesn’t care a owner is making a mockery of baseball.
Unlike MLB the NBA has a high floor (90% of cap) for team salary spending. The game that some MLB owners play can’t really be done in the NBA.
Not so fast on BOS. They have only 2024-25 before they have to break up the band.
Jaylen Brown’s new contract kicks in this upcoming 2024-25, for $20M increase to ~$50 in 2024-25,. $53M in 2025-26.
They’re extending Tatum for 2025-26. His salary goes up $30M to ~$63M.
Derek White is also being given a new deal as we speak, an increasing of $15M over $18M this season, to ~$33M in 2025-26.
That’s about $65M-$70M more to 3 players alone.
Their 3 salaries alone will be > $150M in 2025-26. The cap is likely to be $175M.
That leaves ~$25M-$30M for the Celtics’ remaining 12 players in 2025-26.
The 2 salaries of $30M each to Porzingis and Holiday, $60M total, don’t fit in 2025-26.
The pain starts in 2024-2025. Holiday has restructured his deal to squeeze in as Brown’s salary bump of $20M. But no such mechanisms are available to accommodate the $30M bump to Tatum’s salary next summer.
The Celtics plan to pay the luxury tax penalties coming in 2024-25.
But, because of multiple/repeater penalty multipliers, the bill would be much too high to keep Holiday and Porzingis.
Teams that are goimg over the tax NEXT season: Boston (over 200m roster), Miami,Milwaukee,Denver,Lakers,Clippers,Minnesota and Phoenix. And Dallas has to do some juggles to avoid the tax, I think they will join the list as well. All the rest will go under unless they go crazy, Phillie could be creative and go all in with all the cap space
The NBA needs to scrap their weird salary structure. Players salaries should be based on talent level and the market. Trades should not be based on salary matching. It seems to kill player movement. Players will still make a lot of money. Bobby Bonilla Mets contract will pay him over a million a year until 2035, when he is 72. Ohtani signed the richest contract in sports history.
Light years ahead in tax penalties.