Just an FYI in case anyone missed it: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5099980
NBA cap projection higher than
By Chris Sheridan
NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks and other teams hoarding salary-cap space for this summer's free-agent market received surprisingly good news Friday when they were told at the league's board of governors meeting that the 2010-11 cap is projected to be $56.1 million.
That figure was $2 million to $3 million more than most teams had been expecting and $5.7 million more than the league forecast last July as a worst-case scenario. For the Knicks, it ensures they will have enough cap space this summer to pursue two maximum-salary free agents and still have money leftover.
"That's a lot of money. That's good," said Knicks president Donnie Walsh, who attended the meeting to learn the result of the Knicks' draft position through a tiebreaker. New York lost the tiebreaker to the Clippers, and since Utah owns the rights to the Knicks' first-round pick, it slightly reduced the odds of the Jazz winning the draft lottery. The Knicks hold two second-round selections and will pick 38th and 39th overall.
Other teams with significant cap space that will be positively affected by Friday's news include the New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Because of the worldwide economic downturn, the league warned teams in a memo last July to expect the salary cap for the 2010-11 season to be between $50.4 and $53.6 million. The cap for the 2009-10 season was $57.7 million.
The NBA players' union responded by threatening to file a collusion lawsuit if the league did not have a good-faith basis to predict such a precipitous drop.
A source close to several players said Friday's estimate of a $56.1 million cap "will compel" the union to take a harder look at a collusion case, exploring whether any players suffered financial harm last summer from the low cap projection, which was based on an expected 2.5 to 5 percent decline in basketball-related income.
If that avenue is pursued, it would have a major impact on the ongoing talks regarding a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one set to expire in June 2011.
"A memo of this nature can have a chilling effect on the market for free agent and rookie signings," union director Billy Hunter said last July. "If it later turns out that the league did not have a good-faith basis for making these projections, the NBPA will pursue all available legal remedies, including a treble damages claim for collusion."
Hunter was not immediately available for comment Friday.
The NBA also told teams that the luxury tax threshold for next season should come in around $68 million, nearly $2 million lower than the threshold for the '09-10 season.
Granted, we know the Pacers won't go crazy in free agency, but this helps in that it provides some breathing room so that we're not against the LT next year. We essentially have 12 players under contract for next year (Ford, Price, Jones, Rush, Dunleavy, Granger, Murphy, Hansbrough, Foster, Roy, Solo Jones and I am assuming we retain Josh). Of those 12 (plus Tinsley), we're at about 64.6 million. Add in the #10 pick and that adds 2.2 million and puts us at 66.8 million. We may sign a second rounder. The 2nd rounder would command maybe 450-500k and now we're right at 67.3. Add another undrafted free agent or D-leaguer at another 500k and we're right against the LT at 67.8 million.
What does this mean, you ask? It means that we're likely not going to retain any of our free agents (Diener, Head, Watson). It could also signal what we do as far as trading and who we sign. As most of you know, any NBA team under the luxury tax gets a nice kickback from those teams paying the luxury tax and the Pacers aren't about to lose that for the sake of signing a guy at the end of the bench. With that said, our lineup next year (as it stands now) may look like:
Ford, Price, rookie
Rush, Jones, rookie
Granger, Dunleavy, rookie
Murphy, Tyler, Josh
Roy, Jeff, Solo
Granted, I doubt a few of those guys are here, namely Ford. But these numbers will be the main driver as far as what the Pacers do this summer.
NBA cap projection higher than
By Chris Sheridan
NEW YORK -- The New York Knicks and other teams hoarding salary-cap space for this summer's free-agent market received surprisingly good news Friday when they were told at the league's board of governors meeting that the 2010-11 cap is projected to be $56.1 million.
That figure was $2 million to $3 million more than most teams had been expecting and $5.7 million more than the league forecast last July as a worst-case scenario. For the Knicks, it ensures they will have enough cap space this summer to pursue two maximum-salary free agents and still have money leftover.
"That's a lot of money. That's good," said Knicks president Donnie Walsh, who attended the meeting to learn the result of the Knicks' draft position through a tiebreaker. New York lost the tiebreaker to the Clippers, and since Utah owns the rights to the Knicks' first-round pick, it slightly reduced the odds of the Jazz winning the draft lottery. The Knicks hold two second-round selections and will pick 38th and 39th overall.
Other teams with significant cap space that will be positively affected by Friday's news include the New Jersey Nets, Miami Heat, Washington Wizards, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves.
Because of the worldwide economic downturn, the league warned teams in a memo last July to expect the salary cap for the 2010-11 season to be between $50.4 and $53.6 million. The cap for the 2009-10 season was $57.7 million.
The NBA players' union responded by threatening to file a collusion lawsuit if the league did not have a good-faith basis to predict such a precipitous drop.
A source close to several players said Friday's estimate of a $56.1 million cap "will compel" the union to take a harder look at a collusion case, exploring whether any players suffered financial harm last summer from the low cap projection, which was based on an expected 2.5 to 5 percent decline in basketball-related income.
If that avenue is pursued, it would have a major impact on the ongoing talks regarding a new collective bargaining agreement to replace the one set to expire in June 2011.
"A memo of this nature can have a chilling effect on the market for free agent and rookie signings," union director Billy Hunter said last July. "If it later turns out that the league did not have a good-faith basis for making these projections, the NBPA will pursue all available legal remedies, including a treble damages claim for collusion."
Hunter was not immediately available for comment Friday.
The NBA also told teams that the luxury tax threshold for next season should come in around $68 million, nearly $2 million lower than the threshold for the '09-10 season.
Granted, we know the Pacers won't go crazy in free agency, but this helps in that it provides some breathing room so that we're not against the LT next year. We essentially have 12 players under contract for next year (Ford, Price, Jones, Rush, Dunleavy, Granger, Murphy, Hansbrough, Foster, Roy, Solo Jones and I am assuming we retain Josh). Of those 12 (plus Tinsley), we're at about 64.6 million. Add in the #10 pick and that adds 2.2 million and puts us at 66.8 million. We may sign a second rounder. The 2nd rounder would command maybe 450-500k and now we're right at 67.3. Add another undrafted free agent or D-leaguer at another 500k and we're right against the LT at 67.8 million.
What does this mean, you ask? It means that we're likely not going to retain any of our free agents (Diener, Head, Watson). It could also signal what we do as far as trading and who we sign. As most of you know, any NBA team under the luxury tax gets a nice kickback from those teams paying the luxury tax and the Pacers aren't about to lose that for the sake of signing a guy at the end of the bench. With that said, our lineup next year (as it stands now) may look like:
Ford, Price, rookie
Rush, Jones, rookie
Granger, Dunleavy, rookie
Murphy, Tyler, Josh
Roy, Jeff, Solo
Granted, I doubt a few of those guys are here, namely Ford. But these numbers will be the main driver as far as what the Pacers do this summer.
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