NBA
Running Best/Worst Case 2016-17 NBA Cap Projections
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
The NBA set the salary cap for the 2016-17 at $94,143,000.
Free agency began on July 1 — although teams can sign players as of July 7, after the league’s annual moratorium.
Max contracts start at $22,116,750 for players with up to six years of experience, $26,540,100 for those with seven to nine, and $30,960,450 with 10 or more years in the league.
In addition to a few pending trades, reportedly agreed to in June around the NBA Draft, a number of teams have reached verbal agreements with free agents.
The following details the best and worst case scenarios for cap room this summer, including those deals reported through midday July 5 — updates to follow.
Note that teams can choose to go under or stay over, using or renounces cap holds as necessary.
| Team | Best | Worst | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia 76ers | $35.1 mil | $25.2 mil | The 76ers have a deal with Jerryd Bayless, Gerald Henderson and Sergio Rodriguez. |
| Denver Nuggets | $28.6 mil | $18.9 mil | The Nuggets have agreed to re-sign Darrell Arthur. |
| Boston Celtics | $28.6 mil | $0 | The Celtics hit big with Al Horford agreeing to leave the Hawks. Boston can still make room for free agent Kevin Durant, should he choose to join the Celtics. |
| Los Angeles Lakers | $24.8 mil | $0 | The Lakers would need to stretch Nick Young’s contract to get as high as $24.8 million in space. |
| Portland Trail Blazers | $24.6 mil | $2.4 mil | In addition to a deal with Evan Turner, the Blazers have a number of restricted free agents to decide on like Moe Harkless, Allen Crabbe and Meyers Leonard. Portland is also reportedly trading for Shabazz Napier. |
| Brooklyn Nets | $24.3 mil | $11.5 | The Nets have deals with Jeremy Lin, Justin Hamilton and Trevor Booker. Thaddeus Young will be dealt to the Pacers after the moratorium. The team will issue an offer sheet to restricted free agent Tyler Johnson. |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | $23.5 mil | $0 | The Thunder suddenly have a lot of potential cap room. |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | $22.3 mil | $10.7 mil | The Wolves will bring on Cole Aldrich. |
| Phoenix Suns | $21.6 mil | $9.7 | The Suns are reuniting with Jared Dudley. |
| Miami HEAT | $19.9 mil | $0 | Miami will bring back Hassan Whiteside, but have yet to reach a deal with Dwyane Wade. |
| Houston Rockets | $16.4 mil | $1.1 mil | The Rockets have agreed to bring in Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson. |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | $16.0 mil | $0 | The Cavaliers have yet to come to terms with LeBron James, who will keep the team over the cap, if and when he returns. |
| Utah Jazz | $14.3 mil | $6.3 mil | The Jazz have pending trades with George Hill and Boris Diaw in and Trey Burke out — along with a deal to sign Joe Johnson. |
| Chicago Bulls | $12.7 mil | $1.2 mil | The Bulls have a deal to sign Rajon Rondo. |
| Indiana Pacers | $12.1 mil | $2.5 mil | In addition to agreeing with Al Jefferson, the Pacers have trades lined up for Jeff Teague and Thaddeus Young. |
| Milwaukee Bucks | $11.1 mil | $1.5 mil | The Bucks will issue Matthew Dellavedova an offer sheet, while Mirza Teletovic will join as an unrestricted free agent. |
| Detroit Pistons | $10.1 mil | $1.8 mil | The Pistons have deals with Andre Drummond, Ish Smith and Jon Leuer. |
| Atlanta Hawks | $8.5 mil | $2.6 mil | The Hawks have agreed to terms with Kent Bazemore and Dwight Howard. They also have a deal sending Jeff Teague to the Indiana Pacers. |
| Memphis Grizzlies | $8.5 mil | $0 | The Grizzlies still have spending power, after big deals with Chandler Parsons and Mike Conley. James Ennis may join via the $2.9 million Room Exception. |
| San Antonio Spurs | $6.9 | $0 | The Spurs are trading Boris Diaw to the Utah Jazz to open room to sign Pau Gasol. |
| Washington Wizards | $6.5 mil | $0 | The Wizards will re-sign Bradley Beal and add Ian Mahinmi, Tomas Satoransky and Andrew Nicholson. |
| Toronto Raptors | $5.8 mil | $0 | The Raptors would need to make a trade to open any significant spending power, after agreeing to re-sign DeMar DeRozan. |
| New Orleans Pelicans | $5.1 mil | $2.8 mil | The Pelicans have deals with Solomon Hill and E’Twaun Moore. |
| Sacramento Kings | $3.2 mil | $0 | The Kings have deals with Arron Afflalo, Garrett Temple, Matt Barnes and Anthony Tolliver, along with a trade sending out Marco Belinelli. |
| Orlando Magic | $3.1 mil | $0 | The Magic have been aggressive, adding D.J. Augustin, Jeff Green and Bismack Biyombo, while agreeing to re-sign Evan Fournier, and to trade Shabazz Napier. |
| New York Knicks | $2.2 mil | $0 | The Knicks will add Joakim Noah, Brandon Jennings and Courtney Lee. Lance Thomas will return as well, but he Knicks rescinded Langston Galloway's cap hold. |
| Charlotte Hornets | $1.5 mil | $0 | The Hornets have deals to bring back Nicolas Batum and Marvin Williams, while adding Ramon Sessions and Roy Hibbert. |
| Golden State Warriors | $1.3 mil | $0 | The Warriors are dealing Andrew Bogut, and renouncing a number of free agents, to bring in Kevin Durant. Zaza Pachulia is expected to sign for the Room Exception and David West for the minimum. |
| Dallas Mavericks | $0 | $0 | The Mavericks will add Harrison Barnes and Seth Curry, while trading for Andrew Bogut and bringing back Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams and Dwight Powell. |
| Los Angeles Clippers | $0 | $0 | The Clippers are a rare team this summer, staying over the cap. With Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers returning, the team will re-sign Wesley Johnson with their Mid-Level Exception, triggering a hard cap. |
