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NBA Rumors: Salary cap to skyrocket for 2016-17 season

By Jason Parker

Oct 9, 2014; Lithonia, GA, USA; The NBA logo is shown with basketballs as the Atlanta Hawks conduct an open practice at Miller Grove High School. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 9, 2014; Lithonia, GA, USA; The NBA logo is shown with basketballs as the Atlanta Hawks conduct an open practice at Miller Grove High School. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports /
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The NBA will see a nearly $25 million rise in the salary cap for each team during the upcoming season from this year, according to sources.

For the 2015-16 NBA season, teams were expected to keep within a payroll of $70 million, or otherwise known as about three and a half LeBron James salaries. It was actually a slight improvement from what was expected to be a ceiling of $67 million for the season, so that was a positive.

For the 2016-17 season, teams across the NBA are going to see another rise in the salary cap in part due to the new television contracts and the fact the sport is probably as popular as a whole as it hasn’t been since the era of Magic vs. Bird.

When it comes to a salary cap, the league will see a jump of over $20 million per team, according to sources to Yahoo! Sports:

This news is HUGE for some teams who now have all of a sudden gone back into the legitimate running for players once free agency starts in July. It means that, for example, the Miami Heat can overpay for Hassan Whiteside and be a legit contender for Kevin Durant at the same time.

It means someone is going to give a max contract to JR Smith when he clearly doesn’t deserve one. The winners here are the players who, quite frankly, are about to get PAID when it comes to new salaries. There is no word yet on what the ceiling is going to be regarding the luxury tax, so we’ll fight out later how much a team can go over in their mission to buy a championship.

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