Current NBA players are already some of the most well-paid professionals in the country. They all make millions of dollars and at this certain juncture, the absolute best of the best could make upwards of $30 million on an annual basis. We’ve seen players who we may not have expected to be worthy of such contracts get hefty paydays in recent years, especially last summer. The average role player that comes off the bench it seems will set a franchise back nearly $15 million annually nowadays.
With max contracts being thrown around all offseason, it seems everyone is getting paid and at high price tags. Now, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the NBA delivered teams a new and increased salary cap projection of $101M for 2017-18:
Sources: The NBA has delivered teams a new salary cap projection for the 2017-18 season: $101M. The cap is $94.1M this season.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) April 7, 2017
With the salary cap expected to spike even higher, this is good news for upcoming free agents looking to earn themselves a long-term contract. Of course with the increase, we will also see teams have the ability to add more talent than they had initially anticipated.
Along with having the option to continue adding talent even if it comes with a large price, the increased salary cap will allow teams to roster more star players demanding higher salaries. This increase could make way to a team having the possibility of hanging on to three or even four max contract type players.
With the ‘super teams’ issue beginning to heat up due in large part to the top-heavy landscape of today’s NBA, this means team such as the Cleveland Cavaliers or Golden State Warriors (though they have to worry about paying their current players first) could potentially add another high-profile player. This offseason was already expected to be entertaining enough and now this looming salary cap increase could shake some things up even more.
