2017-18 NBA Salary Cap Figures Released

With the advent of the NBA Free Agency period at midnight, Eastern tonight, the official 2017-18 NBA Salary Cap figures have been established, luxury tax and exception levels along with them. According to Ben Golliver of SI.com, the cap stands just shy of $99.1 million. The rest of the numbers read as follows:

Blake Murphy of Raptors Republic lists the various exemption levels for the upcoming season:

NBA Capologist Albert Nahmad gives a sneak peek at estimates for ensuing years:

Basketball Insiders lists the cap obligation of the Portland Trail Blazers at $132.9 million in 2017-18. That figure does not include Pat Connaughton’s non-guaranteed contract or the rookie-scale contracts of draft picks Zach Collins and Caleb Swanigan.

Adding those salaries would raise Portland’s payroll to $137.7 million. That would be $38.6 million over the salary cap line and $18.4 million over the luxury tax threshold.

Deriving rates from the luxury tax information listed on Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ site, an $18.4 million overage would incur a $39.8 million tax penalty, leaving the total bill for Portland’s roster at $177.5 million if the roster does not change.

Luxury tax penalties are not assessed until the final day of the regular season. They can be modified by roster moves and contract bonuses. But even give or take a couple million, a tab that size will make eyes fly open. For perspective, $177.5 million is the equivalent of paying for an entire team’s salary cap, plus 80% of another...just shy of one team for the price of two.