Report: Salary Cap to Rise to $94M rather than $92M

[jpotter33]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources--nba-salary-cap-projected-to-increase-more-than-previous-estimates-210930102.html?soc_src=mail&soc_trk=ma

This is interesting, because the original estimate was $89M - $92M. Many expected it to be on the higher side of that range, but not this high.

How much does this help with our attempt to have cap room for two max free agents?

[hpantazo]

My question is, if we trade for Love or Butler, would we still have room for 2 max free agents, assuming we renounce the rights to players like Sullinger, Turner, Amir, and Jerebko?

[jpotter33]

My question is, if we trade for Love or Butler, would we still have room for 2 max free agents, assuming we renounce the rights to players like Sullinger, Turner, Amir, and Jerebko?

It's definitely possible with Butler, and this extra two million definitely helps in that regard. Love is a bit more difficult, because next year he'll make $3M more than Butler. Still possible I think, but difficult.

This extra $2M could be the difference between keeping Turner or not if we make significant other moves or trades.

[hpantazo]

My question is, if we trade for Love or Butler, would we still have room for 2 max free agents, assuming we renounce the rights to players like Sullinger, Turner, Amir, and Jerebko?

It's definitely possible with Butler, and this extra two million definitely helps in that regard. Love is a bit more difficult, because next year he'll make $3M more than Butler. Still possible I think, but difficult.

This extra $2M could be the difference between keeping Turner or not if we make significant other moves or trades.

Thanks for the info. It sounds like that extra $2 Million could make a huge difference for us if the right opportunities are there this summer.

[jpotter33]

So it says that Tier 2 max contracts are now $26.4M instead of right at $26M. So, ultimately, our pursuit of two Tier 2 max free agents (Durant, Horford, etc.) was aided by giving us an extra $1.2M in open salary cap space, which is actually significant with as tight as several of those offseason scenarios were.

It definitely could mean the difference between keeping multiple draft picks this offseason or keeping Turner.

[dreamgreen]

Still a soft cap I assume? They need to make it a hard cap.

[saltlover]

I'm not surprised.  I've thought it would be $94-95 million all year.  The NBA always tries to estimate low, so that teams don't overextend themselves through extensions and trades.  I still wouldn't be surprised if it winds up as high as $95 million.

The good news is that the Celtics now officially have enough room to sign two Tier 2 max free agents by only releasing the non-guaranteed contracts and renouncing free agents.  Before they were about $500k short, thus requiring a trade or the stretch provision.  It wasn't a real obstacle, given the flexibility the team had, but it's nice to not require someone's help to make it happen.  It also makes retaining ET a bit easier, as noted.