It’s possible you missed the news last week when the NBA players’ union rejected a proposal to smooth, over a number of years, the increase in the league’s salary cap.
The cap is determined as a percentage of league revenue, and with the NBA’s mammoth new US$24 billion (Dh88.2 billion) TV deal kicking in for the 2016/17 season, the league office was trying to negotiate a way with the players to avoid an immediate and massive jump in the cap, instead hoping to introduce it over three or four years.
The players didn’t find any deal to their liking, so an immediate and massive jump it is.
It’s difficult for the average fan to muster much interest in the minutiae of NBA money matters, but after next season it will be unavoidably in the public’s face.
This year, the cap limits teams to spending about $63m on players. In 2016/17, it will soar into the $90m range.
That’s going to affect not just the free agents of that summer, but this summer, as well.
It is part of the reason why LeBron James included an opt-out clause in his two-year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers. It means teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, traditional powers hitting bottom, will suddenly be able to use their historic cachet and gobs of money to chase the likes of Kevin Durant and James.
The landscape of the league will change in the course of a summer.
The pronounced-dead super-team model will come back in vogue.
If you prefer to see San Antonio Spurs-like teams in less glamorous markets like Atlanta and the Bay Area at the top of the heap, enjoy it while you can.
jraymond@thenational.ae
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