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You're allowed to go over the soft cap with the Bird exception, but you still have to pay the tax (which gets really expensive really fast) and you still can't exceed the hard cap. They are super talented, but their depth is pretty much gone. The max is 25-30% of the cap and they have four max players.

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Cleveland paid the most this season.

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I didn't realize there was no hard cap for Bird rights.

Still, the tax is nuts especially after the first year. Anyone remember when certain posters thought the Nets were going to be good? Even Prokhorov wasn't willing to pay the tax.

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The Hard Cap only comes into play if you do a S&T, use the full MLE or something else.

Once you are 4mm over the lux tax line, you can't do any of those things.

Lux Tax repeater:

First 5mm of tax: 2.5 dollars per dollar
5-10mm: 2.75:1
10-15mm: 3.5:1
15-20mm: 4.25:1
20-25mm: 4.75:1
25-30mm: 5.25:1

Warriors were in the luxury tax last year, so they are already repeat offenders.



20mm of luxury tax = $65mm in luxury tax payments on top of the $133mm in salaries you paid to get there.

So it costs you about $200mm for the year.

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You're allowed to go over the soft cap with the Bird exception, but you still have to pay the tax (which gets really expensive really fast) and you still can't exceed the hard cap. They are super talented, but their depth is pretty much gone. The max is 25-30% of the cap and they have four max players.

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Cleveland paid the most this season.

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Yep. Their salaries were 23mm over the lux tax this year and 5 over last year.

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None. I'm a rockets fan, I know we have zero chance in the finals and have hated our offseason. I also realize that the NBA was at its best in the late 80s to early 90s when there were superstars spread out amongst the league. Right now we have clusters of superstars in GSW, Cleveland, San Antonio and Boston is eventually going to have a few when they all grow up plus Horford. Those are your final four teams next year and I don't have to watch an ounce of basketball between November and May to tell you that.

That's why I hate the NBA, such a predictable league and the players have the weakest mindsets.

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The lakers, Celtics, Bulls and Pistons all had 3+ HOF guys on those great teams.

Teams were built differently because of salary cap and free agency rules, but there were only a few great teams and they were great because they had 3 or more of the top 15 guys in the game.

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For the first three titles the Bulls only had Jordan & Pippen as future HOFers on the roster. Rodman was added for the second three peat.

I'd like to see Dwayne Wade sign with the Cavs and make them contenders of the East already.

So who does GS have to dump now?

I'll post it here, too.

From The Vertical:

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The moves to fit Durant:
1. Renounce the unrestricted free-agent holds of Marreese Speights, Leandro Barbosa, Ian Clark, James McAdoo, Brandon Rush and Anderson Varejao.
2. Withdraw the qualifying offers and renounce the cap holds of Harrison Barnes and Festus Ezeli.
3. Trade Bogut's contract to a team with cap space.
The moves would leave Golden State with $26.6 million in cap space to sign Durant to a max contract.
However, doing so would only leave the Warriors with the minimum and room mid-level ($2.9 million) to fill out their roster.

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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/front-office-insider--kevin-durant-s-options-184021631.html

Dallas trading cap space for Bogut. Thanks, Mark Cuban for making this happen!

So they will have:

C:
PF: Green
SF: Durant, Kevin Looney
SG: Klay, Iggy
PG: Curry, Livingston

http://www.si.com/nba/2016/07/04/draymond-green-kevin-durant-warriors-nba-free-agency-thunder

How Green recruited Durant.

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Ha. Awesome

F that guy, a good player who can't help but play dirty.

Looks like I'll be rooting for LeBron and the Cavs for the first time in my life next summer (or SA in the Western Conference). After OKC added Oladipo, I didn't think there was much of a chance at all that KD would leave. Hell, that roster would have easily given GS a run for their money in the West. It's probably good for ratings with all these groupings of stars, but to me it just makes everything other than the finals totally ****ing boring.

The weakest move ever by a super star athlete. Up there with No Mas. If you cant beat em join em.

Lil B's curse will follow KD to the Bay.

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So the NBA is completely not worth watching now. This is the future. 3 teams with a chance to actually win. What a joke.

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Dubs, Cavs, who's the third?

Good point. I was throwing a wildcard in there. An East team that can randomly take down the Cavs. Highly doubtful though.

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So the NBA is completely not worth watching now. This is the future. 3 teams with a chance to actually win. What a joke.

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So ONE player changing teams has dramatically altered everything and now made a 30 team league no longer worth watching to you? A Mavs vs. Rockets game is now less compelling than if Durant had stayed in OKC? You'll now skip catching that Kings vs. Grizzlies matchup?

Ironically, though fans complain about 'super teams', apparently the NBA overall viewership INCREASED 6 years ago when Lebron went to Miama to create the LeBron/Wade/Bosh super team. Apparently folks are often compelled to tune in to see ultimate greatness or root against evil empires and root for underdogs. So if you end up watching less NBA next season, you may be in the minority.

Oh, and LOL if Wade now goes over to Cleveland (as LeBron's power play response to Durant's move). Clearly there has been a major shift where the superstar players now are determining their fate, no longer have to solely hope that their team owner and GM will get the help they want in order to win championships.

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So the NBA is completely not worth watching now. This is the future. 3 teams with a chance to actually win. What a joke.

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Dubs, Cavs, who's the third?

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Spurs and Clips now have a decent shot in the West. The Spurs in particular with their kryptonite OKC losing Spurs killers Durant and Ibaka. Get to a playoff series with GSW and anything can happen.

In the East, I don't see anyone challenging the Cavs. Although is the Heat resign Wade and get Bosh healthy they have a punchers chance. Toronto has some work to do.

I don't think the Clips have a chance barring injuries to the Spurs and Warriors, and for that matter, I would take the Grizzlies over them in a 7 game series now.

That is more a comment on the fact that I think the Clippers have gotten worse and older this off-season.

I definitely see the West as a two-horse race (maybe three with Clips). The road to the WCF did get easier for the Spurs, but I just don't see how anyone can beat the Dubs now barring an injury or Curry and Durant just completely butting heads.

The league is now really down to two teams, and maybe three in the Spurs. Viewership has increased because now the league is back to being a league of mega stars. There was a decade drought before then.

The Warriors are now just a team with a bunch of ringers. The irony now is, Lebron has the MVP almost in the bag for next season barring some dark horse.

What the rest of the league has in it's favor, namely the Spurs and Cavs, is that the first year for super teams almost always fall short; Lakers in 04 and the Heat's first year.

If people watch, its hoping the Warriors dont win.

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I definitely see the West as a two-horse race (maybe three with Clips). The road to the WCF did get easier for the Spurs, but I just don't see how anyone can beat the Dubs now barring an injury or Curry and Durant just completely butting heads.

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Well, injuries happen more often than not. They aren't really an anomaly. Somebody will have an injury. Just this year we had Curry, Bogut, Paul, Diaw and Aldridge injured during (or just prior) to the playoffs.

Its funny how accurate wrestling is a lot of the times.

I've been arguing that LeBron should be the MVP every year.

2009-2010 Cavs with LeBron 61-21

2010-2011 Cavs without LeBron 19-63

There's not a more impactful player in the league than LeBron

2013 Cavs 33-49

2014 Cavs (LeBron's return) 53-29 and lost in 6 to a healthy Golden State team without Love and Irving

I'll never understand the Curry love and LeBron hate. I hope the Cavs meet the GSW again in the finals and beat them.

To be perfectly candid I'm a Rockets fan, but will openly root for the Spurs if it's them vs GSW in the Western Conference Finals. I've always thought they do things the right way, but if anyone ever says David Robinson was better than Hakeem you've lost your marbles.

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The irony now is, Lebron has the MVP almost in the bag for next season barring some dark horse.

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There's no way he wins it next year, unless, he makes OKC a third seed.

Damn, a year later, but I like this post