Salary Cap Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Western Notes: Durant, Rockets, Thompson

November 4th, 2014 at 12:09pm CST by Chuck Myron

The message in HBO’s “Kevin Durant: The Offseason” documentary shows the Roc Nation Sports agency’s heavy hand in Durant’s affairs and paints the reigning MVP as a player who’s eager to win, even if it means leaving the Thunder in 2016, as Ben Golliver of SI.com opines. Even though Durant says as the film’s credits roll that he has “no doubts” about the Thunder’s ability to win a championship eventually, the film makes it clear he’s ready to seek a title elsewhere if any such doubts creep in. We passed along more on Durant this morning, and there’s another Durant-related item amid the latest from the Western Conference:

The Rockets are among the many teams planning a run at Durant when he can become a free agent in 2016, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com says in a video report.
The maximum salaries for 2015/16 won’t be known until July, but the league is estimating that the 25% max that Klay Thompson is set to receive in his extension from the Warriors will give him a $15.5MM salary for next season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That would mean $69MM over the life of the four-year deal, as Pincus also illustrates. That’s up significantly from the $14.746MM that 25% max signees received for this season. Kyrie Irving is also in line for the $15.5MM starting salary in his five-year max extension, though he has a better chance than Thompson does to trigger the Derrick Rose rule, which he and the Cavs agreed would give him a max worth approximately 27.5% of the salary cap.
Cory Joseph acknowledges that it wasn’t surprising when he didn’t sign an extension with the Spurs when he was eligible before the end of last month, and the ever-optimistic point guard looks ahead to restricted free agency as an opportunity. Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News has the details.

Northwest Notes: Thunder, Jackson, Jazz, Ingles

November 4th, 2014 at 9:00am CST by Chuck Myron

The league has proposed setting the 2016/17 salary cap between $78MM and $82MM in discussions with the union about phasing in the increases that the league’s new TV revenue will bring about, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. Those figures would still be quite a leap from next season’s projected $66.5MM cap, and they’d set up lots of teams with flexibility for the summer of 2016, when Kevin Durant is poised to hit free agency. Some teams are optimistic that Durant will consider a wide array of suitors, while others have heard that he’s already down to the Thunder and the Wizards, according to Lowe. In any case, there’s much on the line on Oklahoma City in the next 19 months or so left before Durant’s contract expires, as Lowe examines. Here’s more on the Thunder and their Northwest Division rivals:

The Thunder are confident that they’ll be able to match other clubs’ offer sheets for restricted free agent-to-be Reggie Jackson next summer, sources tell Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Given the roughly $63.57MM of guaranteed salary the Thunder already have on their books for the 2015/16 season, retaining Jackson might require exceeding the luxury tax threshold, something they’ve been reluctant to do in the past.
Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey isn’t planning simply to let his team’s young core grow on its own, and he says he’ll use it as a draw to attract free agents, as he tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News, promising to be “very aggressive” in free agency next year. Still, Alec Burks tells Genessy that the team’s commitment to youth is one reason why he was eager to sign his extension with Utah.
The Clippers weren’t pleased when the Jazz claimed Joe Ingles off waivers, as coach/executive Doc Rivers admits his club had designs on re-signing the 27-year-old rookie, Genessy tweets.
Thaddeus Young, who can become a free agent in the summer, sees a bright future ahead for the Timberwolves, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Towns, Wayns, Ennis

October 13th, 2014 at 5:27pm CST by Chuck Myron

Scouts and executives are convinced that forward/center Karl-Anthony Towns is the best of Kentucky’s prospect-laden roster, but the team’s NBA showcase might have benefited point guard Tyler Ulis more than any other Wildcat, observes Chad Ford of ESPN.com (Insider-only). Still, several GMs were skeptical about how much they could learn from coach John Calipari‘s unusual combine, as Ford relays.

“There’s a herd mentality in the NBA,” said a GM who spoke to Ford. “We came because everyone else was coming and you want as much information as you can. Things like this don’t really tell you much and can, in fact, be dangerous. We saw these guys exactly how Calipari wanted us to see them. But this event isn’t reality. The game is reality. Watching Cal in a real practice when he’s really getting on guys is reality. This was a show. I keep reminding my scouts of that.”

Wizards Plan Extension For Bradley Beal In 2015

October 13th, 2014 at 11:31am CST by Chuck Myron

Bradley Beal won’t be eligible for an extension to his rookie scale contract until July, but the Wizards are already planning to come to terms with him next offseason, and his latest injury hasn’t given the team pause, sources tell J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Beal is likely out six to eight weeks with a broken wrist, but it remains a fait accompli that the team will pick up his approximately $5.695MM rookie scale team option for 2015/16 by the deadline at the end of the month, Michael writes.

Beal played in only 56 games as a rookie thanks to a leg injury and was on a minutes limit last year because of another injury to the same leg, as Michael notes, but his history of ailments apparently isn’t a concern to GM Ernie Grunfeld and his staff. A quick extension for Beal would follow the team’s path with backcourt mate John Wall, to whom the team committed a five-year maximum-salary deal in 2013 despite the fact that to that point he’d missed at least 13 games in two of his three seasons in the NBA. The extension made Wall the team’s Designated Player, meaning the Wizards can grant an extension of no more than four years to Beal as long as Wall remains on the roster.

It’s conceivable that Beal will be worth the maximum salary, as Michael opines, but it remains unknown whether the team wants to jump into a max deal with the Mark Bartelstein client just as it did with Wall. The maximum salary is tied to the salary cap, and it’s unclear just how high the salary cap will spike for the summer of 2016, when an extension for Beal would kick in. The league’s new $24 billion TV deal also takes effect that summer, but while some projections have the cap surging as high as $80MM, it’s not yet known if the league will phase in more gradual increases, and if so, how the league would structure those incremental rises. Waiting until Beal hits restricted free agency in the summer of 2016 would give both sides the ability to see where the max and the cap are situated before committing to a deal. The Wizards have only about $29MM on the books for 2016/17, but locking themselves into a max extension for Beal might make it difficult for the team to chase free agent target Kevin Durant in the summer of 2016.

Fallout From NBA’s New TV Contracts

October 6th, 2014 at 4:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

The NBA’s new TV contracts will have broad effects on the league in the years to come, and commissioner Adam Silver addressed some of those in a press conference today. Other reports have also spoken to the scope of the media package, including its impact on the next collective bargaining agreement negotiations in 2017, and we’ll pass them along here, with the latest update on top:

4:56pm update:

James denied the earlier report (below) that he and Paul are attempting to do away with max contracts, as Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group relays.

4:06pm update:

Each team will receive between $70MM and $100MM annually thanks to the new TV deal, according to early projections, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Teams are set to see $35MM each of the next two seasons, the final years under the existing deal, Stein adds (on Twitter).

12:30pm update:

The TV deal guarantees the players will receive 51% of the league’s basketball-related income starting with the 2016/17 season, Beck notes (Twitter links). The collective bargaining agreement holds that the players will receive that percentage if revenue exceeds the projections made when the league and the players negotiated the CBA in 2011, at which time no one forecast quite so much TV money.

11:07am update:

It doesn’t appear as though there will be a significant jump in the cap for the 2015/16 season, Bontemps hears (Twitter link). It’s more likely that a phasing in of cap increases would limit the amount of the cap for 2016/17 and backload the rises into later years, as Bontemps adds in a second tweet.
Silver has ruled out making 2015/16 part of a phase-in, Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck tweets.

10:30am update:

Some team executives are estimating the new TV revenue would allow the cap to rise to as much as $91.2MM for 2016/17, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Max contracts for veterans of 10 or more years would start at $28.2MM under that structure, up from $20.6444MM this year, Berger adds. The CBSSports.com columnist also notes that a “vocal component” among the field of NBA agents has long been pushing for the elimination of max salaries, just as LeBron reportedly is, as we passed along below.

10:01am update:

Silver acknowledged the idea of gradually phasing in the dramatic leap in the salary cap that the new TV money will prompt, citing what the National Football League has done as a precedent, as Tim Bontemps of the New York Post notes (via Twitter). The commissioner added that he’ll meet today with players association executive director Michele Roberts about the idea, Bontemps also tweets. Still, Silver suggested that the discussion isn’t too far along, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe observes (Twitter link). It’s unclear if gradual increases would mean a higher cap for next summer than there otherwise would be, a lower cap for 2016 than there otherwise would be, or both.
LeBron James is pushing for drastic increases to or the elimination of the maximum salary for players in the next collective bargaining agreement, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The presence of Chris Paul, a friend of LeBron’s, as president of the players association could prompt the union to make it a point in negotiations come 2017, when both sides can opt out of the existing CBA, Windhorst adds. As it stands, veterans of 10 or more years are in line to see their maxes go up by more than $6MM come the summer of 2016, with vets of seven or more years in line for $4MM+ increases, according to Windhorst’s projections (Twitter link).
The new TV deal won’t kick in until after the current deal expires in the summer of 2016, but Silver said today that he was “determined” to finish negotiations before the season began, USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt tweets.
David Stern confided in owners during the last years of his tenure that he expected the new TV deal would double in value, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com, who notes that Stern’s estimate wound up low.

Lowe’s Latest: Lockout, TV Deal, Salary Cap

October 6th, 2014 at 12:10pm CST by Chuck Myron

We’re keeping track of today’s latest on the league’s landmark TV deal in the post linked here, but the latest dispatch from Grantland’s Zach Lowe contains enough news that it makes sense to highlight it by itself. The entire piece is worth reading if you want to wrap your head around the true, broad-reaching effects of the influx of new cash, but we’ll hit the most noteworthy parts here:

Commissioner Adam Silver has begun trying to convince owners not to lock out players in 2017, Lowe reports. Former commish David Stern didn’t have a tight grip on a new wave of more financially motivated owners around the league, but that same group likes Silver, according to Lowe. Still, players are “furious” about the increase in league revenues not long after the latest collective bargaining agreement reduced the players’ share of revenues from 57% to 50% when it took effect, Lowe writes.
In 2011, the union proposed allowing players to receive a cut when an NBA team is sold, but the league quickly torpedoed the idea and would rather have engaged in an even lengthier lockout than concede on that issue, as Lowe details.
The plan for now is for ABC/ESPN and Time Warner to pay a combined $2.1 billion in 2016/17, with gradual yearly raises that bring the rights fees to $3.1 billion in 2024/25, the final year of the deal, sources tell Lowe.
Executives from some teams have advanced the idea of inserting extra money into existing player contracts that cover seasons in which the league will be receiving the new TV revenue, Lowe also hears.
The league would like to have a plan for phasing in increases to the salary cap and an update to the existing $66.5MM cap projection for 2015/16 ready by the end of the Board of Governors meeting later this month, Lowe reports. Still, the Grantland scribe believes that such a deadline will be difficult to meet.

And-Ones: Cap, Walker, Bledsoe, Rubio, Wiggins

September 23rd, 2014 at 11:43am CST by Chuck Myron

Some teams think the salary cap will jump above $70MM for next season, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports, though Lowe’s dispatch from a week ago indicated that the league has told clubs not to get carried away with their projections for the time being. Clarity on the matter will be important, especially for clubs with players up for extensions to their rookie-scale contracts before the October 31st deadline. Lowe’s latest piece centers on one such case, as the Hornets face a decision about whether to extend Kemba Walker, whom rival executives often say isn’t a “championship point guard,” according to Lowe. We’ll pass along another tidbit from the Grantland scribe amid the latest from around the league:

The Suns haven’t shown much interest in sign-and-trades involving Eric Bledsoe, Lowe hears, advancing Friday’s report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports that threw cold water on the idea that Bledsoe would end up with the Wolves.
The Wolves and Ricky Rubio‘s camp remain in a stalemate in extension negotiations in part because agents Dan Fegan and Jarinn Akana know that the Knicks and Lakers can open cap space next summer, writes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter links).
Rumors as late as the eve of the draft suggested that the Cavs were conflicted about whom to take No. 1 overall, but coach David Blatt insists the team had settled on Andrew Wiggins long before making him the top pick, as Blatt tells Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. Cleveland didn’t hold on to Wiggins for long, of course, shipping him to the Wolves in the Kevin Love trade.
Nazr Mohammed‘s contract with the Bulls is non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and covers just one season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Clippers signee Jared Cunningham rejected a deal from Serbia’s KK Partizan to instead try his hand at making the opening-night roster in L.A. on his non-guaranteed contract, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com.

Lowe’s Latest: Salary Cap, TV Deal, Burks, Morris

September 16th, 2014 at 10:45am CST by Chuck Myron

Teams around the league are projecting that the salary cap will leap to as high as $80MM for 2016/17, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes, but next season’s salary cap is shrouded in uncertainty. Executives from around the league believed earlier this summer that the NBA would gradually phase in the increase in the salary cap with a larger than usual uptick next summer, but the league has told teams within the last two weeks to hold steady on their projections for 2015/16, according to Lowe. The uncertainty makes it more difficult for teams to make long-term commitments at this point as the October 31st deadline for rookie scale extensions looms. The focus of the Grantland scribe’s piece is on that rookie scale extension market, and his entire piece is worth a read to juxtapose his insight with our in-depth pieces on some of the same up-and-comers featured in our Extension Candidate Series. Lowe also has a few more newsy tidbits, as we’ll pass along here:

There’s chatter around the league suggesting that the NBA will backload its new television deal, which is expected to be more than twice as lucrative as the current arrangement that runs out after the 2015/16 season, Lowe reports. The aim would be for the league to negotiate the ability to keep a larger percentage of that media rights revenue for itself in the next collective bargaining agreement with the players union.
Executive around the league see Alec Burks as a sixth man rather than a starter, according to Lowe, who argues that there’s a case to be made to the contrary. Still, it bodes well for the Jazz‘s leverage in extension talks.
Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris told teams before the 2011 draft that they would take less money to play together, sources tell Lowe. That didn’t end up happening right away, since Houston drafted Marcus and Phoenix took Markieff, but the Suns reunited the twins at the 2013 trade deadline, and if their desire to stick together still holds true, that gives the Suns the ability to exert some pressure, Lowe surmises. Both are extension-eligible.

And-Ones: Salary Cap, Huestis, Allen, Hornets

July 23rd, 2014 at 7:31pm CST by Alex Lee

Executives from teams around the league believe the NBA will attempt to prevent any sharp jump in the salary cap from one year to the next when heightened TV revenues come in by gradually increasing the cap, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. The union would have to consent to any such effort, Lowe tweets. Some teams project that the cap will be as much as 30% higher two years from now, as Lowe adds in his full piece.

Let’s take a look at what else is brewing around the league on Wednesday night:

Josh Huestis should accept the required tender the Thunder are obligated to make to retain his draft rights rather than follow through on a promise to sign instead in the D-League, as Mark Deeks of ShamSports argues in a piece for Hoop365.com.
Ray Allen, currently vacationing in China, told a Chinese news outlet that he will return home on Thursday to get MRIs on both of his legs before making a decision about the 2014/15 season, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who adds that multiple teams are interested.
Hornets head coach Steve Clifford indicated that he’d like to add some depth at center behind Al Jefferson and Bismack Biyombo, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. Bonnell adds that such an addition would likely be a veteran on a minimum salary deal (Twitter links).
After a number of years in the lottery, the Jazz have assembled the type of young and promising core that should make them a threat in the near future, opines Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Chuck Myron contributed to the post.