NBA
$17.4 Million in Cash Swapped in 2014-15
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
Prior to the NBA’s 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams could send up to $3 million in cash out in trades, multiple times a season.
To level the playing field and limit rich franchises, teams are capped in the amount of money they can send out and receive over the course of a season (from July 1 to June 30). Last year’s limit of $3.3 million has climbed to $3.4 million for the 2015-16 season.
Some teams have already swapped cash in deals including the $75,000 the Portland Trail Blazers paid the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Brendan Haywood swap.
The Boston Celtics have received $3.1 million, just $300,000 short of the maximum, getting $1.5 million from the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Perry Jones III swap, and $1.6 million from the Miami HEAT with Zoran Dragic.
Miami also sent $1.1 million to the Orlando Magic to take on the contract of Shabazz Napier, limiting the HEAT to just $721,000 in available cash to send out in future trades.
The Magic also received $100,000 from the New York Knicks for Kyle O’Quinn via sign and trade. The Houston Rockets sent $440,000 to the Denver Nuggets for Ty Lawson, and the Golden State Warriors gave the Philadelphia 76ers $1 million for Jason Thompson.
Through the 2014-15 season, a total of $17,428,653 was exchanged. Miami was the biggest spender, while the New Orleans Pelicans received just $41 short of the $3.3 million maximum.
The following details the final tally in cash transactions for the 2014-15 season:
| Team | Spent | Received |
|---|---|---|
| Miami HEAT | $2,539,424 | $0 |
| Houston Rockets | $2,500,000 | $0 |
| Brooklyn Nets | $1,880,000 | $0 |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | $1,701,000 | $0 |
| New York Knicks | $1,500,000 | $0 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | $1,500,000 | $0 |
| Memphis Grizzlies | $1,319,236 | $0 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | $1,300,000 | $0 |
| Chicago Bulls | $1,000,000 | $0 |
| Los Angeles Clippers | $930,000 | $0 |
| Washington Wizards | $839,431 | $0 |
| Dallas Mavericks | $0 | $0 |
| Denver Nuggets | $0 | $0 |
| Detroit Pistons | $0 | $0 |
| Golden State Warriors | $0 | $0 |
| Indiana Pacers | $0 | $0 |
| Los Angeles Lakers | $0 | $0 |
| Milwaukee Bucks | $0 | $0 |
| San Antonio Spurs | $0 | $0 |
| Toronto Raptors | $0 | $250,000 |
| Atlanta Hawks | $0 | $550,000 |
| Sacramento Kings | $0 | $839,341 |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | $344,562 | $1,000,000 |
| Orlando Magic | $0 | $1,000,000 |
| Charlotte Hornets | $0 | $1,299,562 |
| Boston Celtics | $0 | $1,319,236 |
| Phoenix Suns | $0 | $2,170,465 |
| Utah Jazz | $0 | $2,800,000 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | $0 | $2,900,000 |
| New Orleans Pelicans | $75,000 | $3,299,959 |
The Thunder spent $900,000 just to generate trade exceptions, and another $801,000 to reduce their tax bill.
Both New York (35th) and Portland (54th) spent $1.5 million to buy draft picks.
Miami’s included $2.2 million to the Suns in the Goran Dragic deal. The Rockets shelled out $1 million to acquire Corey Brewer, and $1.5 million to dump Omer Asik. Memphis included $1.3 million for Jeff Green.
Brooklyn bought the 39th pick from the Hornets for $880,000, while previously sending $1 million to the 76ers to take on Andrei Kirilenko.
The Clippers needed $630,000 to buy the 56th pick, while also shipping off Jared Cunningham to Philadelphia with $300,000.
As part of the complicated process to acquire Kevin Love from the Wolves, the Cavaliers sent $1.3 million to the Jazz for three players on non-guaranteed contracts.
The Pelicans were creative as well, spending $75,000 to bring in Scotty Hopson, only to ship him out days later in the Asik trade with Houston.
Minnesota included $345,000 to bring in Gary Neal from the Hornets, while Washington included $839,000 in the Ramon Sessions/Andre Miller swap with the Kings.
Finally, the Bulls paid the Magic $1 million to take on Anthony Randolph’s contract.
