Tap here to view theScore's NBA Offseason Tracker, which includes the latest transactions and rumors.
With players and agents looking forward to next year (and beyond) when the NBA salary cap really jumps, it seems this coming season's number will be higher than originally projected, according to CBS Sports' Ken Berger.
Teams have been working under the assumption of a salary cap of $67.1 million for 2015-16, but Berger reports that number will likely come in about $2 million higher. That would also push the luxury-tax threshold higher than its $81.6 million estimate.
The salary cap this past season was $63.2 million and the luxury tax was $76.8 million; the reported jumps would represent roughly a nine percent increase, larger than the maximum allowable raise of 7.5 percent.
Because the yearly number is never firm until league audits are complete at the time the free-agent moratorium is lifted and signings can become official - in this case on July 9 - it's not a stunning development.
Yet it's good news for teams that have designs on inking big-name free agents and are in danger of bumping up against the luxury tax, teams like the San Antonio Spurs in their pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge, for instance.
If 2015-16 cap inc from $67.1M to $69.1M, max salary projections inc. 0-6: $15.7M to $16.2M. 7-9: $18.8M to $19.4M. 10+: $22.0M to $22.6M.
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertRandom1) July 1, 2015
It also stands to push the teams on the fringes of having maximum cap space into max territory, and open up additional room for teams that already have ample space to target a second quality piece to accompany a star.
At the individual player level, this doesn't stand to make an enormous difference, save for those getting maximum contracts. The max contract number is not a set figure but rather a percentage of the salary cap - the percentage considered the max is determined by years of experience - and so a $2-million cap bump would stand to push max salaries anywhere from $450,000 to $670,000 higher in Year 1.
The projected spike next summer currently pegs the salary cap at around $89 million.
