Big spending in NBA free agency has been the story, but NBA teams should stop spending big at this point for four reasons.
Everyone knew it was coming. The NBA was going to have two straight years of huge salary cap booms as the influx of television money hit the books.
Owners tried to create a more fair market by having the money hit the cap gradually, they called it “smoothing,” but the National Basketball Players Association wanted nothing to do with it. So instead of gradual increases we had a jump of $24 million this season alone.
The NBA adjusted their projections for next season’s salary cap. Originally they had expected it to rise to $107 million, up another $13 million from this year. Now, their projections have next year’s cap only jumping about $8 million to $102.
The reason for the adjusted projection? Teams have already spent more money this offseason than the NBA expected. The complicated formula that is used led to this adjusted projection.
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In a year when everyone knew the salary cap was going to jump drastically, teams have already spent more money than even the NBA projected.
If that isn’t a sign that teams should be done spending money in free agency, we have five others for you.
While fans of specific teams will want their team to do everything in their power to get better, it is really easy to spend someone else’s money, Owners and General Managers should show restraint.
Next: Salary Floor