The NBA salary cap for the 2016-17 season is projected by the league to be set at $92 million, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt. Earlier projections had it going from $70 million in 2015-16 to $90 million for the next season, but now that number is expected to be even higher.
NBA salary cap expected to jump from $70 million to $92 million this summer, per report
Teams will have even more money to spend in free agency than anticipated.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
The reason for the projected jump is the new television deal the league signed, which is worth $24 billion in total. Since the cap is tied to the basketball-generated income the league produces, the new infusion of money was expected to cause a serious rise in the cap. It appears it could be bigger than previously anticipated. We won’t know for sure until the league completes its audit just before free agency at the beginning of July.
A higher cap will mean teams will have more money to spend in free agency next offseason. Franchises that already had planned to have room to offer big contracts, like the Lakers and Knicks, will now have a little more wiggle room. Maximum contracts are tied to the cap, so they will rise as well. That will make players under deals signed before the jump huge bargains, while young players on rookie contracts will be even more valuable.
Again, this is just a projection. The official number will be determined after the league’s audit in July during the moratorium. Last summer even the more optimistic projections fell short and that could happen against next offseason.
The cap is projected to rise again to $107 million in the 2017-18 season.
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