Even with all the cap room the Lakers have cleared for next summer, they still may nascent, and the West may be too tough - even beyond Golden State - relative to the irresistibly easy East. Plus, his options to join a genuine challenger to the Warriors seem limited. One school of thought is James never would leave Cleveland twice because he's invested too much in the community. Now, we're wondering if James again will search of greener pastures next summer. Then, there seemed no way he would leave Miami after two titles. The Chosen One's next choiceįew thought James would leave Cleveland in the first time. This sets up a tense season as some teams try to keep stars as others jockey for position to land them. Some clubs that do - the Nuggets, for instance - have young cores they may want to sign to max extensions.
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This would happen the same summer when huge stars could become free agents, names like LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas. Another season like that could see similarly depressed revenue relative to projection. The cap came in under projections for next season, in part because of lower revenues from the playoffs because the Warriors and Cavaliers beat everyone in short order.
Expectations are belts will tighten even more next summer. Stars like Kyle Lowry got smaller - in terms of length - deals (the Raptors' PG got $100M, but only a three-year pact) and money spent on role players decreased dramatically. But Ian Mahinmi? Evan Turner? Those deals ( four years, $64M for Mahinmi and four years $70M for Turner) were shocking. Mike Conley was a max candidate, but he happened to land his $153 million deal in the year of the jump. Guys who weren't max-level players landed huge deals. In 2016, teams went berserk and overspent after a massive cap jump created by a mega-TV deal. For us, we get to examine factors impacting what the league may look like a year from now with regard to player movement, including trade and free agency scenarios: Too many stars, not enough money Free agency is over, and the NBA enters its offseason slumber when players, coaches and execs head for various beaches to rest up before it begins anew at training camp.