NBA
Teams Still With Cap Space; Projecting Summer 2017
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
With July nearing an end, most NBA teams have reached the $94,143,000 salary cap. A few never went under, including the Los Angeles Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors.
Most of the top free agents are off the market, although technically LeBron James has yet to re-sign with the Cavaliers.
Stragglers remain like J.R. Smith, Donatas Motiejunas and Lance Stephenson among others, but a number of teams may be saving cap room in case the Oklahoma City Thunder look to move Russell Westbrook.
Westbrook, heading into the final year of his contract, is eligible to have his deal renegotiated and extended – similar to what James Harden and the Houston Rockets agreed to earlier in the month.
If he is dealt, a team can raise his salary from $17.8 million to $26.5 million for the 2016-17 season, while adding on as many as three additional years.
Meanwhile, the unrestricted free agent class of 2017 is deep with players like Westbrook, Stephen Curry, Chris Paul (early termination option), Blake Griffin (early termination option), Kevin Durant (player option), Kyle Lowry, Paul Millsap (player option), Dwyane Wade, Danilo Gallinari (player option), Gordon Hayward (player option) and Jeff Teague among others.
The league’s latest salary-cap projection for 2017-18 is $102 million. A very rough estimate for maximum salaries would be $24 million for players with less than seven years of NBA experience, $28.8 million for those with seven-to-nine years experience and $33.5 million for players with at least 10 years of experience.
The following table lists the maximum potential cap room for both this summer and next, assuming all rookie-scale team options are taken:
| Team | 2016 | 2017 | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia 76ers | $25.3 mil | $47.2 mil | While the Sixers have changed their managing philosophy, they still have a significant amount of unspent cap space available. Nerlens Noel could take up $11 million of cap space next summer as a restricted free agent. |
| Denver Nuggets | $22.1 mil | $37.3 mil | If Danilo Gallinari does not opt out, he’ll take up $16.1 million of the Nuggets’ 2017-18 cap room. |
| Brooklyn Nets | $18.7 mil | $41.2 mil | The rebuilding Nets still have a lot of spending power this season, and likely will have quite a bit of flexibility next year as well. |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | $14.0 mil | $64.0 mil | The Thunder are clearly at a crossroads, hoping to lock in Russell Westbrook long-term or facing a more significant rebuild. The team also has to decide on 2017 potential restricted free agents Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo and Andre Roberson. |
| Los Angeles Lakers | $13.4 mil | $31.7 mil | Thus far, the Lakers have protected some cap space for 2017. To get to $13.4 million in cap space this summer, the team would need to waive and stretch Nick Young’s salary, although that would negatively impact their 2017 space. |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | $13.4 mil | $30.7 mil | Minnesota has a lot of young talent and sizable spending power next summer. |
| Phoenix Suns | $13.2 mil | $35.1 mil | Phoenix has spending power both in 2016 and 2017, although Alex Len may take up $12.1 million with his cap hold next summer as a restricted free agent. |
| Utah Jazz | $12.5 mil | $53.9 mil | The Jazz still have room to restructure Derrick Favors’ contract this summer. Their cap space in 2017 depends heavily on Gordon Hayward’s $16.7 million player option, or cap hold should choose to be a free agent. |
| Indiana Pacers | $7.2 mil | $26.5 mil | The Pacers’ 2017-18 cap room depends on Jeff Teague’s cap hold and Rodney Stuckey’s $7 million player option. |
| Boston Celtics | $6.1 mil | $31.6 mil | Boston will see draft picks Ante Zizic and Guerschon Yabusele play overseas this season. If they come over for 2017-18, the Celtics’ cap room will dip slightly. |
| Milwaukee Bucks | $5.0 mil | $24.5 mil | The Bucks will need Greg Monroe to opt out of his $17.9 million (or trade the big man) to gain any significant spending power next summer. |
| Golden State Warriors | $0 | $59.5 mil | Kevin Durant can opt out; Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala can leave in free agency. The Warriors may need some cap room to re-sign Durant at the max, since they don’t have his full Bird Rights. |
| Sacramento Kings | $0 | $55.1 mil | Provided Rudy Gay and Matt Barnes opt out (or if Gay gets dealt), the Kings could have major spending power next summer. |
| Chicago Bulls | $0 | $54.9 mil | Dwyane Wade can opt out of his contract after the season. Neither Rajon Rondo nor Isaiah Canaan have a fully-guaranteed salary in 2016-17. Some of that cap space may go to Nikola Mirotic, who would have an $8.7 million cap hold as a restricted free agent. |
| Dallas Mavericks | $0 | $36.4 mil | Dirk Nowitzki hasn’t officially signed, but his reported salary of $25 million for 2017-18 is believed to be just $5 million guaranteed. |
| Atlanta Hawks | $0 | $31.1 mil | The Hawks could have sizable spending power in 2017, provided Paul Millsap (player option) is off their books. Dennis Schröder has a $9.6 million cap hold as a restricted free agent. |
| Los Angeles Clippers | $0 | $29.5 mil | The Clippers face big decisions with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick all likely hitting free agency. |
| Orlando Magic | $0 | $29.3 mil | The Magic gave up a lot to acquire Serge Ibaka, who will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. |
| New Orleans Pelicans | $0 | $27.9 mil | The Pelicans will have some flexibility with Jrue Holiday and Tyreke Evans each on an expiring contract. |
| San Antonio Spurs | $0 | $26.1 mil | Player options for Pau Gasol ($16.2 million) and Dewayne Dedmon ($3 million) will determine how much spending power the Spurs have next summer. |
| Miami HEAT | $0 | $22.4 mil | Miami’s cap space could be limited by the player options of Josh McRoberts, Dion Waiters and Willie Reed. |
| New York Knicks | $0 | $22.2 mil | The Knicks have some additional spending power in 2017, if they cut ties with Derrick Rose. |
| Charlotte Hornets | $0 | $21.4 mil | The Hornets would need Spencer Hawes to opt out of his final year at $6 million, to reach $21.3 million in cap space next summer. |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | $0-$12.8 mil | $21.4 mil | Cleveland obviously wants no part of cap room, as re-signing LeBron James this summer and next is where they want that money to go. |
| Toronto Raptors | $0 | $12.7 mil | If Kyle Lowry opts out after this season and leaves, the Raptors may not have enough cap room to replace him in free agency. |
| Houston Rockets | $0 | $11.7 mil | If the Rockets re-sign Donatas Motiejunas to a multi-year deal, they may not have significant spending power in 2017. |
| Detroit Pistons | $0 | $0 | Detroit will need to decide on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, either by the end of October for an extension or next July in restricted free agency. |
| Memphis Grizzlies | $0 | $0 | The Grizzlies are heavily invested in Mike Conley, Chandler Parsons and Marc Gasol. |
| Portland Trail Blazers | $0 | $0 | With pending deals for Moe Harkless and C.J. McCollum (via extension), the Blazers will be worrying more about luxury taxes than cap room in 2017. |
| Washington Wizards | $0 | $0 | The Wizards have significant money invested in Bradley Beal, John Wall, Ian Mahinmi, Marcin Gortat and Markieff Morris. |
Note: Teams’ cap space in 2017 will be impacted by their draft position. Initial projections primarily use the 2016 draft order. Additionally, players can be traded or bought out to increase cap room.
