- Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report tries his luck at predicting which teams could be most active in trade talks leading up to the February deadline. Lottery teams like the Kings, Thunder, Magic, and Pistons are among those Pincus views as the best candidates to make moves.
When we updated our glossary entry on the NBA’s salary floor earlier this week, I noted that the Thunder are the only team currently under the floor for the 2021/22 season. Each NBA team is required to spend at least $101,173,000 on player salaries this season and 29 clubs have made financial commitments far exceeding that figure. Oklahoma City is the one exception.
Oddly enough, while the Thunder remain about $23MM below the salary floor, they have functioned since the 2021/22 league year began in August as an over-the-cap team.
The Thunder have used the mid-level exception (only available to over-the-cap clubs) to sign three different players. When they’ve taken on more salary in a trade than they’ve sent out – like when they acquired Derrick Favors from Utah – they’ve used trade exceptions to accommodate that incoming salary. And they haven’t used cap room to complete a single signing or trade, since they haven’t technically been “under the cap” at all so far in ’21/22.
On the surface, this seems like a paradox. How can a team be over the salary cap and under the salary floor at the same time? The Thunder’s unusual circumstances stem from the fact that a team’s salary in relation to the floor and the cap are determined using different methods.
Before we dig deeper into the explanation, let’s take a look at the player salaries currently on the Thunder’s books for 2021/22, with the help of data from Basketball Insiders and Spotrac:
| Player | Cap hit |
|---|---|
| Kemba Walker | $26,238,422 |
| Derrick Favors | $9,720,900 |
| Josh Giddey | $5,988,000 |
| Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | $5,495,532 |
| Gabriel Deck | $3,676,852 |
| Mike Muscala | $3,500,000 |
| Aleksej Pokusevski | $3,113,160 |
| Tre Mann | $2,901,240 |
| Darius Bazley | $2,513,040 |
| Ty Jerome | $2,412,840 |
| Theo Maledon | $2,000,000 |
| Jeremiah Robinson-Earl | $2,000,000 |
| Kenrich Williams | $2,000,000 |
| Luguentz Dort | $1,782,621 |
| Isaiah Roby | $1,782,621 |
| Kyle Singler | $999,200 |
| Vit Krejci | $925,258 |
| Patrick Patterson | $737,066 |
| Admiral Schofield | $300,000 |
| Mamadi Diakite | $100,000 |
| Total | $78,186,752 |
* Note: Players in italics have been waived and are no longer on the roster.
That total, just over $78MM, is the one we’re using when we say the Thunder are well below the $101MM+ salary floor. It’s also the figure that presents the clearest picture of how much Oklahoma City is actually spending on its roster.
However, when determining whether or not a team is over the cap, the NBA also accounts for a handful of other cap charges. The salary cap exceptions a team has available – such as traded player exceptions or the mid-level exception – are included in the tally. So are the cap holds for players who reached free agency with the club and have never signed with new teams or had their cap holds renounced.
[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Cap Holds]
The Thunder aren’t financially on the hook for these exception amounts and cap holds — they’re essentially just placeholders. The reason they count toward team salary for cap purposes is so a club can’t circumvent NBA rules by using its cap room while simultaneously retaining Bird rights to all its free agents and hanging onto exceptions only available to over-the-cap teams.
Here are the non-salary cap holds currently on the Thunder’s books:
| Cap hold | Cap hit |
|---|---|
| Traded player exception | $12,800,000 |
| Traded player exception | $8,072,621 |
| Bi-annual exception (full) | $3,732,000 |
| Mid-level exception (partial) | $3,110,742 |
| Deonte Burton | $1,669,178 |
| Norris Cole | $1,669,178 |
| Nick Collison | $1,669,178 |
| Raymond Felton | $1,669,178 |
| Jawun Evans | $1,489,065 |
| Kevin Hervey | $1,489,065 |
| Total cap holds |
$37,370,205 |
| Total (salaries + cap holds) | $115,556,957 |
As that final row shows, after taking into account all the Thunder’s salaries, exceptions, and cap holds, their team salary exceeds the $112,414,000 cap by about $3MM.
The Thunder almost certainly won’t remain over the cap all season long. In order to maximize their financial flexibility and accommodate salary-dump trades before the February trade deadline, renouncing their various exceptions and cap holds makes the most sense. They could renounce all their exceptions and cap holds today if they wanted to, but there’s no rush to do so until it’s necessary for a roster move.
Even if the Thunder don’t actively try to get below the cap, it’ll likely happen naturally when their $12.8MM trade exception from last season’s Trevor Ariza deal expires. That’ll happen on February 3.
Still, for the time being, we can marvel at the rare situation the Thunder have created, with a team salary that’s simultaneously below the floor and over the cap. It’s not unusual for that to happen during the offseason before a team has filled out its roster, but it may be a long time before we see another club achieve the feat this far into a season.
After initially arriving in Oklahoma City as a complementary piece on a playoff roster, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has since become the centerpiece of a rebuild for a Thunder team that appears lottery-bound for a second consecutive season. While Gilgeous-Alexander would obviously like to be winning more, he told Joe Vardon of The Athletic that he’s enjoying his role as the focal point of OKC’s offense.
“Yeah, absolutely. It’s something I’ve dreamed about as a kid,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Everyone wants to be that guy, you know what I’m saying? With high pressure comes great rewards.”
Here’s more from around the Northwest:
- The Trail Blazers‘ investigation into Neil Olshey may be entering its final stages, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv, who says Olshey was interviewed earlier this week as part of the probe. Sources tell Begley that Olshey is still owed more than $12MM on his current deal, which could become a sticking point if the franchise decides to part ways with the executive, as we outlined on Thursday.
- Rudy Gay had an impressive first game back from offseason heel surgery, pouring in a team-high 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just 18 minutes in his Jazz debut on Thursday. The performance displayed how Gay is capable of helping Utah this season, writes Sarah Todd of The Deseret News.
- Sixers head coach Doc Rivers said on Thursday that his assistant coach Sam Cassell was the first to suggest that the Nuggets would be a good fit for Doc’s son, Austin Rivers. As Mike Singer of The Denver Post details, Rivers signed with Denver last season, then re-signed with the club in the offseason and is playing regular minutes. “It’s always great when your kid is happy,” Doc said.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault is remaining in Oklahoma City during the team’s three-game road trip that begins on Friday, according to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Daigneault and his wife Ashley are expecting their first child in the coming days.
“We looked at a couple options of being with the team in terms of travel, and it’s not overly practical and it’s just not something that I want to risk,” Daigneault said.
Thunder assistant Dave Bliss (not to be confused with the former Baylor coach of the same name) will take the reins and coach the team on an interim basis until Daigneault returns. Oklahoma City will play in three cities in a span of four days, visiting Milwaukee on Friday, Boston on Saturday, and Atlanta on Monday.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- Clippers big man Serge Ibaka expects to play one more game in the G League on Thursday before taking the court again for the NBA club, tweets Mirjam Swanson of the Southern California News Group. In her full story, Swanson has more quotes from Ibaka on why he asked to be assigned to the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario upon returning from his back injury.
- The Timberwolves need to take advantage of a soft part of their schedule, according to Michael Rand of The Star Tribune, who suggests the front office might have to start thinking about “major roster moves” if Minnesota doesn’t win at least two or three times in its current four-game stretch. The Wolves got off to a good start with a win over Sacramento on Wednesday. Matchups with San Antonio, Memphis, and New Orleans are on tap.
- If Suns players have been distracted by the looming investigation into team owner Robert Sarver, it certainly hasn’t shown on the court, where the team has won 10 consecutive games, writes Rob Mahoney of The Ringer.
- Speaking of Sarver, Baxter Holmes of ESPN reported this week that Wachtell Lipton, the firm conducting the investigation into the Suns‘ owner, has told current and former team employees that anyone who wants to remain confidential in the final report will have that option.
The NBA’s salary cap primarily serves as a way to restrict the amount a team can invest in player salaries in a given year. However, because the league has a soft cap rather than a hard cap, there’s technically no specific figure that clubs are prohibited from exceeding once they go over the cap to re-sign players. As long as a team doesn’t use certain exceptions or acquire a player via sign-and-trade, that team doesn’t face a hard cap.
There is, however, a specific threshold on the lower end that teams must meet in each NBA season. The league’s minimum salary floor requires a club to spend at least 90% of the salary cap on player salaries. For instance, with the 2021/22 cap set at $112,414,000, the salary floor for this season is $101,173,000.
If a team finishes the regular season below the NBA’s salary floor for that league year, the penalties levied against that team aren’t exactly harsh — the franchise is simply required to make up the shortfall by paying the difference to its players. For example, if a team finished this season with a team salary of $98,173,000, it would be required to distribute that $3MM shortfall among its players.
The players’ union determines how exactly the money is divvied up. Most recently, players who spent at least 41 games on a team’s roster have received a full share, while players with between 20-40 games on the roster receive a half share, according to CBA expert Larry Coon. A player can’t exceed his maximum salary as a result of a shortfall payment.
For the purposes of calculating whether a team has reached the minimum salary threshold, cap holds and international buyouts aren’t considered, but players who suffered career-ending injuries or illnesses are included in the count, even if they’ve since been removed from the club’s cap. For instance, the NBA permitted the Magic to remove Timofey Mozgov‘s $5.57MM annual cap charges in 2019/20, ’20/21, and ’21/22, but that $5.57MM still counted toward Orlando’s salary floor in each of those three seasons.
Additionally, the NBA made a change in its most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement to prevent teams from circumventing certain rules to reach the salary floor. Under the old CBA, a team that was $8MM below the salary floor could trade a player earning $4MM for a player earning $12MM halfway through the season and be in accordance with minimum team salary rules.
Under the current CBA, only the salary the team actually pays the player counts for minimum team salary purposes. For instance, in the example above, the team would be credited with having paid its original player $2MM for the first half of the season and its new player $6MM for the second half. In that scenario, the club would still fall $4MM shy of the salary floor.
Of the NBA’s 30 teams, 29 are comfortably above the salary floor for the 2021/22 season. The Thunder are the only club below the floor, and they’re well below it — at approximately $78MM, per Spotrac, Oklahoma City’s team salary is about $23MM away from the minimum required amount.
It’s a safe bet that by the end of the season the Thunder will have moved significantly closer to the salary floor or perhaps even surpassed that threshold. They’ll be worth monitoring closely when the trade market heats up and rival teams start looking to shed salary.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier version of this post were published in 2018 and 2020.
Offseason re-acquisition Al Horford has been a bright spot for the Celtics, writes Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston.
At age 35, Horford says he’s used to people labeling him an elder statesman, but he’s not surprised by his strong play.
“For me, honestly, I’m kind of used to it because when I was 30 here, I feel like people were bringing it up like, ‘Oh, he’s 30!’ and all this stuff. I play how I play, I’ve kind of been kind — I feel really good, physically. I feel really good. I know where I’m at. I know what I can do. And, yeah, I’m 35, but I feel as long as I’m putting in the work — I am putting in the work — I’m doing everything that I need to do and I feel like I can keep playing at a high level,” Horford said.
Forberg writes that Horford has arguably been the team’s best two-way player to start the season, despite missing the first game after battling COVID-19. He’s averaging a career high 2.4 blocks per game, and his 9.0 rebounds are his highest mark in nine seasons.
Hoford is grateful for the time he spent with the Thunder last season, saying they have impressive medical and performance staffs who helped him get healthy.
“[The Thunder medical staff was] great. They just had great support systems, kind of like what we have here now, but they really — looking at my nutrition, helping me with treatments before or after practice, the lift, or the performance stuff, kind of mapping the schedule out and kind of making the player involved in everything that goes into playing the games, which is something that we’re doing here as well,” Horford said.
“And that, for me, that year was very beneficial, for me to feel good again, get healthy, and things like that. They have a great program over there. I was really impressed. And they really helped me be in this position, from a basketball standpoint, health-wise.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- In his latest mailbag, Fred Katz of The Athletic says there’s no clear path to Kevin Knox getting minutes for the Knicks anytime soon. Katz notes that Knox is behind Obi Toppin on the team’s depth chart, and even if they wanted to utilize Knox’s three-point shooting, the Knicks would probably be more inclined to play rookie Quentin Grimes, who Katz says is a superior defender. Knox will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season if the Knicks tender him a qualifying offer, which seems pretty unlikely at this point. If they choose not to, he’ll become unrestricted.
- Chris Boucher has had a poor start to the season for the Raptors, but he’s starting to turn things around, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Boucher says it’s been tough to get acclimated with his new teammates after undergoing hand surgery in the preseason. “I was doing so good in training camp, and then you get hurt in preseason (and) the team gets chemistry (when) you’re out of it,” said Boucher, “you’ve got to find a way to introduce yourself to the team. … I’m sure a lot of people were disappointed in the way that I’ve been playing and what I’ve been giving this year. I have a good circle and they help me stay within myself and focus on the right things, knowing every day is a new day and coming in with the same energy and being ready to change some games.” Boucher was one of the most improved players in the league last season and will be an unrestricted free agent in 2022.
- Strong play from Scottie Barnes and OG Anunoby suggests a bright future for the Raptors, according to Dan Devine of The Ringer. Devine provides stats and video breakdowns of the two Toronto forwards with enormous wingspans.
Starting Jazz small forward Royce O’Neale appears to be increasing Utah’s ceiling this season by becoming a bigger offensive threat, writes Tony Jones of The Athletic.
“I’m trying to just take what the defense gives me,” O’Neale said of his revamped offense this season with the Jazz. “I’m trying to find ways to get open, whether I am finishing at the basket or kicking it out for the open three. I’m trying to find the open guy. I don’t want the ball to stick in my hands. Everybody thrives off moving the ball, finding the open guy.”
Though O’Neale is still averaging a fairly modest output of 7.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 2.2 APG, along with an excellent 2.2 SPG, Jones contends that O’Neale’s consistent three-point shooting and his improved cutting away from the ball have made him a player that opposing defenses need to respect. This could improve the Jazz’s outlook in the postseason.
“This is what I’ve been trying to train for in the offseason,” O’Neale said of how he hopes to help the Jazz. “I want to do whatever I have to do for us to win. Whether that’s guarding the best player, or knocking down shots. I’m just trying to not be tired and to play the whole game, if I can.”
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- The Trail Blazers‘ investigation into the alleged workplace misconduct of longtime president Neil Olshey could last a few weeks, well beyond the duration initially anticipated, writes Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.
- Third-year Thunder forward Darius Bazley has looked to learn from 30-year-old veteran center Mike Muscala, the team’s oldest player, per Joe Mussatto of the Oklahoman. “I don’t know if Mike knows this, but I look up to him,” Bazley said. “Just to see Mike and his readiness, whether he’s playing good or playing bad, he always comes in with the same energy and effort, and today he was rewarded for it.”
- The league continues to gather information on the on-court fight between All-NBA Nuggets center Nikola Jokić and Heat forward Markieff Morris. Mike Singer of the Denver Post tweets that a league announcement on an expected suspension period for Jokić could be announced as late as tomorrow. Denver head coach Michael Malone has indicated that an extended absence for Jokić could open the door for more rotational run for reserve big men Bol Bol and Zeke Nnaji, per Sean Keeler of the Denver Post. “Maybe some guys like Bol Bol (and) Zeke Nnaji that haven’t had a great chance to play yet are going to have a chance to get out there and play rotational minutes,” Malone said. “But we’ll react once we get that news.” Malone also noted that he would feature forwards Jeff Green, JaMychal Green, and Aaron Gordon in the post more frequently should Jokić be unavailable tomorrow for the club’s next game against the Pacers.
- The Thunder have recalled Vit Krejci, Tre Mann and Isaiah Roby from their G League affiliate, the team announced in a release. Oklahoma City has upcoming games against the Spurs on Sunday, Pelicans on Wednesday and Kings on Friday.
There are currently 30 players on standard NBA contracts whose 2021/22 salaries aren’t yet fully guaranteed. In most cases, those players will receive their full guarantees if they remain under contract through January 7. Because the league-wide salary guarantee date is January 10, a player must clear waivers before that date if a team wants to avoid being on the hook for his full salary.
A handful of players have earlier trigger dates, however. Those players will receive either full guarantees or an increased partial guarantee on certain dates before January 7.
These dates are fairly malleable — if a player and team reach an agreement, they can be pushed back. The Raptors took that route with Isaac Bonga and Sam Dekker, for example. Both players were originally on track to have their full minimum-salary contracts for 2021/22 become guaranteed if they made the team’s opening-night roster. However, they agreed to push their guarantee dates back a few weeks, to November 6.
Those agreements between a player and team aren’t always reported right away, so our list of early salary guarantee dates is a tentative one, based on information from Basketball Insiders, Spotrac, and HoopsHype, as well as our own data.
Here are the salary guarantee dates to watch prior to January 7:
November 6:
- Isaac Bonga (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($250,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,729,217).
- Sam Dekker (Raptors): Partial guarantee ($350,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,789,256).
December 1:
- Chimezie Metu (Kings): Partial guarantee ($881,398) increases to full guarantee ($1,762,796).
December 11:
- PJ Dozier (Nuggets): Partial guarantee ($400,000) increases to full guarantee ($1,910,860).
December 15:
- DeAndre’ Bembry (Nets): Partial guarantee ($750,000) increases to larger partial guarantee ($1,250,000).
- Kenrich Williams (Thunder): Partial guarantee increases to full guarantee ($2,000,000).
- Note: Williams’ partial guarantee is based on a salary of about $11,494 per day. For instance, 30 days into the regular season, he’ll have earned $344,828.
The Warriors were planning to take Josh Giddey with the seventh pick in this year’s draft if the Thunder hadn’t scooped him up at No. 6, Giddey’s father tells Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. Warrick Giddey says the Warriors told his son’s agent, Daniel Moldovan, that Josh would be their target if he was still on the board.
The Thunder and the Warriors were the only teams to hold private pre-draft workouts with the Australian guard, and both came away impressed. Giddey is averaging 10.8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists through his first five NBA games and appears ready for the league at age 19.
“We’re not overly surprised by what we’ve seen,” coach Mark Daigneault said, “but obviously there’s a lot of work to do and we’re excited to continue to work with him. He’s gotta get a lot better as well.”
There’s more from the Northwest Division:
- Nuggets center Nikola Jokic didn’t consider sitting out Friday’s game after suffering a bruised knee earlier in the week, writes Mike Singer of The Denver Post. Jokic underwent an MRI that showed no structural damage and said he plans to keep going as long as the knee doesn’t feel weak. “They’ve been making him go through the protocols, the testing, different drills and they felt that he was more than capable of getting out there and playing,” coach Michael Malone said.
- The Nuggets have one of the lowest-scoring benches in the league and may turn to rookie guard Bones Hyland for a spark, Singer adds in a separate story. Hyland saw his first game action this week and scored seven points in 10 minutes. “I keep on saying it, but Bones Hyland,” Malone said. “That second unit’s struggling to score, make shots. Well Bones has shown he can do that.”
- His Timberwolves teammates love playing alongside Jarred Vanderbilt, who got his first start of the season this week so he could guard Giannis Antetokounmpo, per Megan Ryan of The Star Tribune. The fourth-year power forward is known for an aggressive, unselfish approach to the game. “He’s a contagious person,” Anthony Edwards said. “Anytime he’s on the floor, we’re playing better, we’re playing harder. We’re making the extra pass, making the extra closeout. We’re one step faster.”