A year ago, four players signed maximum-salary rookie scale extensions that included Rose Rule language, putting each player in position to earn a starting salary worth 30% of the 2025/26 salary cap – rather than 25% – on his new deal if he met certain performance criteria.
Magic forward Franz Wagner and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes weren’t able to cash in and earn that extra 5%, but Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley did so when he won this season’s Defensive Player of the Year award, and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham followed suit by claiming a spot on the All-NBA Third Team.
As our maximum-salary projections show, Mobley and Cunningham are now in line to earn $269,085,780 over the next five seasons instead of the $224,238,150 they would have made if they hadn’t received those end-of-season awards. Those figures, which are based on a projected cap increase of 10%, include a $46,394,100 starting salary for 2025/26, up from $38,661,750.
While it’s great news for the Pistons and the Cavaliers that Cunningham and Mobley played well enough this season to warrant All-NBA and Defensive Player of the Year recognition, that extra $7.7MM+ in salary that each team will have to account for could affect how Detroit and Cleveland operate this summer.
Let’s take a look at the Pistons first. If Cunningham had earned his standard 25% of the cap, Detroit could theoretically have created about $24.6MM in cap room by renouncing all their free agents. Depending on Malik Beasley‘s asking price following a season than nearly earned him Sixth Man of the Year honors, that cap room might’ve come in handy, since they only hold Beasley’s Non-Bird rights.
Operating under the cap in that scenario would’ve given the Pistons the ability to offer Beasley more than the non-taxpayer mid-level exception while likely leaving some room left over, along with the $8.8MM room exception.
But with Cunningham’s extra $7.7MM+ on the books, the Pistons’ maximum projected cap room in that scenario dips to just $16.9MM. Renouncing their other free agents to offer Beasley that full $16.9MM would still be an option, but it would leave Detroit with no remaining cap room, rendering the team unlikely to be able to re-sign both Dennis Schröder and Tim Hardaway Jr. (or one of the two, and a replacement for the other) using the room exception.
With Cunningham set to make over $46MM, the Pistons’ most likely path now is probably operating over the cap, which would allow them to retain Schröder’s Early Bird rights, Hardaway’s Bird rights, and the bi-annual exception while using the mid-level exception to try to re-sign Beasley. As long as Beasley is willing to accept a deal in that range, taking that route should work out fine for the Pistons.
The Cavaliers, meanwhile, were projected to operate well into tax apron territory regardless of where Mobley’s new deal came in, but his $7.7MM+ raise will push them far beyond the second apron, significantly increasing their tax bill and making it more challenging to re-sign key free agents like Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill.
Let’s assume Cleveland simply retains its players currently under contract without re-signing any free agents and fills out its roster using its two second-round picks and minimum-salary free agent deals. The increase in the team’s projected tax bill as a result of Mobley’s raise, based on my math, is nearly $46MM. That number would increase further if the team brings back Jerome and/or Merrill.
Again, as long as Cunningham and Mobley continue to play at an All-NBA level, the Pistons and Cavaliers will be happy to pay them the mega-deals they earned with their performances in 2024/25. But those raises will make life a little more complicated for the cap strategists in the two teams’ front offices.
The new CBA was done so there is no super teams ever again. It hurt teams that draft well and create stars.
It made it so small market teams can compete with large market teams. It evens the playing field. OKC isn’t short on stars and has the ability to keep them together for at least 8 years if not longer. You developing a player and them getting an award and them getting a major raise should have something in place to protect the team. Not sure what could help that but they should get something to help ease the raise thats not expected.
There should be a clause in there if you draft well you get rewarded. OKC window is not 8 years. The 2027-2028 season will be very tough to keep the team together. Williams and Holmgren is about to get big pay raises then SGA will get a max contract of $60 million plus per year. Those draft picks went from lottery picks to late 1st round picks. Going to be tough keeping the team together.
Except we have seen Denver and Minnesota (two small market contenders) break apart their teams to stay under the second apron. Now Cleveland, another small market contender, is also going to have to let some players walk due to the 2nd apron. I am not sure what the goal of the CBA is, but the idea that it is to help small market teams seems like window dressing to me.
The second apron isn’t there to help small market teams. Every team has the same salary cap and floor. The second apron is there to cause parity so no team big can build a dominant roster that wins multiple championships in succession.
Well it is certainly making it harder to keep a good team together. So they seem to be succeeding. Not sure if I like that or not.
Small market myth, tuck the tears
They have drawn the lines the last 3 cbas and will continue to do so for the next 3
In their spite they failed to realize one day they might sit on the iron throne themselves. Lets see what they want next CBA and we will all play along for better or worse…..again
They will need to trim role players I agree. They have Topic coming over next year and while yes the picks aren’t as valuable as they were previous years it gives them means to find affordable role players over that time. I should of worded it better but I mean jdub and chet would be on the rookie scale extension so they wont be as big as the veteran max, they should be able to keep those 3 together over that time.