Salary Cap, Tax Line Set For 2021/22 NBA Season
While it flew under the radar amidst a flurry of contract agreements during the first few hours of 2021’s free agent period, the NBA has officially set the salary cap for its 2021/22 season. As expected, the cap increased by right around 3% on last season’s $109,140,000 figure. Here are the details, courtesy of a league press release:
- Salary cap: $112,414,000
- Luxury tax line: $136,606,000
- Salary floor: $101,173,000
- Non-taxpayer mid-level exception: $9,536,000
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: $5,890,000
- Room exception: $4,910,000
- Maximum salaries:
- 6 years or fewer: $28,103,500
- 7-9 years: $33,724,200
- 10+ years: $39,344,900
- Early Bird exception: $10,384,500
- Estimated average salary: $10,335,000
- Tax apron: $143,002,000
The tax apron for the 2021/22 league year will be the hard cap for any team that acquires a player via sign-and-trade, signs a player using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, or signs a player using a bi-annual exception.
[RELATED: Maximum Salaries For 2021/22]
[RELATED: Minimum Salaries For 2021/22]
[RELATED: Values Of 2021/22 Mid-Level, Bi-Annual Exceptions]
While the 2021/22 figures are essentially what we expected, the NBA has adjusted its 2022/23 projections and is now forecasting a $119MM cap and a $145MM tax line, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
The most recent projections for ’22/23, from last November, were a $115.7MM cap and a $140MM tax line, so that’s a significant increase and suggests that the NBA’s revenue projections are more positive than initially anticipated.
Pelicans To Acquire Devonte’ Graham Via Sign-And-Trade
The Pelicans are acquiring restricted free agent point guard Devonte’ Graham in a sign-and-trade deal with the Hornets, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Graham will be signing a four-year, $47MM contract with New Orleans, his agents Ty Sullivan and Austin Brown tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Charania, Charlotte is getting a first-round pick back in the deal. Wojnarowski reports (via Twitter) that it’ll be the Pelicans’ own 2022 first-rounder, with top-14 protection.
Having approached free agency hoping to land a top-tier point guard such as Chris Paul or Kyle Lowry, the Pelicans were forced to pivot as those All-Stars committed to other teams. Instead, the team will end up with Tomas Satoransky (via the Lonzo Ball sign-and-trade with Chicago) and Graham, who emerged as a reliable start during the last two years in Charlotte.
Graham isn’t an especially efficient scorer, having made just 37.7% of his field goal attempts in 2020/21. However, that’s primarily a result of his struggles scoring inside the arc — his three-point mark was a very respectable 37.5%. In addition to his ability to make threes, Graham is an above-average play-maker (6.5 APG over the last two seasons) and a respectable defender.
Moving on from Graham shouldn’t be a major blow to the Hornets, since they still have a solid backcourt that features LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, and lottery pick James Bouknight. Charlotte could also now have an extra pick in the first round of the 2022 draft, and with Graham no longer on the books, the club will create a little extra cap flexibility in both the short- and long-term.
Kings Ink Alex Len To Two-Year Contract
AUGUST 13: The Kings have announced the signing in a press release.
“It is great to welcome Alex back to the Kings,” GM Monte McNair said. “Alex will add toughness, competitiveness and experience while securing our front line depth.”
AUGUST 2: The Kings are set to sign journeyman free agent center Alex Len to a two-season contract, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter). The two-year deal will be worth $7.65MM, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
This will be Len’s second stint with Sacramento. He previously played on the Kings for a portion of the 2019/20 NBA season.
The fifth overall selection out of Maryland in 2013 by the Suns, Len also logged time with the Hawks. Atlanta eventually traded Len for his first tour of duty with the Kings.
Len, 28, most recently suited up for the Wizards for the majority of the 2020/21 season. After initially inking a one-year, $2.32MM deal with the Raptors in the 2020 offseason, Len fell out of the Toronto rotation quickly. The Raptors eventually waived Len. After clearing waivers, he then signed on with the Wizards for the rest of the season.
The seven-footer was able to carve out more rotation minutes at his next NBA stop, operating as a solid contributor to a playoff-bound club with Washington. For the balance of the 2020/21 season, Len averaged 6.6 PPG, 4.1 RPG, and 1.0 BPG across 15.3 MPG in 64 games, including 42 starts.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Nicolas Batum Re-Signs With Clippers
AUGUST 13: The Clippers have officially re-signed Batum, the team announced today in a press release.
“Nico is a terrific player, a selfless teammate and a consummate professional, who lifts us in a lot of different ways,” president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said in a statement. “He fit in perfectly from the beginning, and we’re grateful he’s chosen to return.”
AUGUST 2: Forward Nicolas Batum has agreed to re-sign with the Clippers on a two-year contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets. The contract includes a player option in the second year, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets.
Los Angeles held Non-Bird rights on Batum, allowing the team to re-sign him for $120% of his minimum salary. By utilizing those rights, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), the Clippers still have the $5.9MM taxpayer exception at their disposal.
It’s a coup for the Clippers, who were expected to face plenty of competition for Batum’s services, including from Portland, Golden State, Miami, and Indiana
After getting buried on Charlotte’s bench the previous season, Batum enjoyed a career revival with the Clippers. He averaged 8.1 PPG, 4.7 RPG and 2.2 APG in 67 regular-season games, including 38 starts. He also averaged 8.1 PPG, 5.5 RPG and 2.1 APG in 16 postseason games.
Batum began his career in 2008 with Portland.
Bulls Sign Alex Caruso To Four-Year Deal
AUGUST 10: The Bulls have officially signed Caruso, according to the transactions log at NBA.com.
AUGUST 2: The Bulls have agreed to a four-year, $37MM deal with free agent guard Alex Caruso agent Greg Lawrence tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Based on the terms of the agreement, it sounds like the team will use most of its mid-level exception on Caruso.
The unrestricted Lakers free agent will provide a defensive presence in Chicago’s restructured backcourt.
The Bulls agreed to a sign-and-trade with the Pelicans to acquire starting point guard Lonzo Ball and Caruso will likely be the primary backup, though he could also get some minutes at shooting guard. He has made 37.7% of his 3-point attempts during his career.
Caruso has been a rotation player for much of the last two seasons. He averaged 6.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG, 2.8 APG and 1.1 SPG in 21.0 MPG this past season.
Knicks, Evan Fournier Agree To Four-Year Deal
The Knicks and Evan Fournier are in agreement on a four-year contract that could be worth up to as much as $78MM, a source tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The fourth year isn’t guaranteed, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).
The Knicks, who entered the free agent period with the most money to spend, were looking for a wing to provide an offensive boost. Fournier will step right in as the team’s starting shooting guard or small forward.
He averaged 17.1 PPG and 3.4 APG in a combined 42 regular-season games with Orlando and Boston during his walk year. He missed time due to back, groin and knee injuries and also was placed under health and safety protocols after contracting COVID-19 in April.
Fournier averaged 15.4 PPG in five postseason games.
During the 2019/20 season, Fournier averaged a career-best 18.5 PPG in 66 games. He’s a career 37.9% 3-point shooter.
The Celtics signaled they wouldn’t try to re-sign Fournier when they acquired Josh Richardson from Dallas.
Spurs Sign Zach Collins To Three-Year Contract
AUGUST 11: The signing is official, the team confirms in a press release.
AUGUST 2: The Spurs have decided to roll the dice on injury-plagued free agent forward Zach Collins.
Collins is departing the Trail Blazers on a three-year, $22MM deal, agent Mark Bartelstein told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
The 10th pick of the 2017 draft, Collins has seen his career sidetracked by injuries. The Trail Blazers decided not to extend him a $7MM qualifying offer, making Collins an unrestricted free agent.
Collins has only appeared in 11 games the past two seasons due to shoulder, foot and ankle injuries.
Collins had a major setback in late June when another fracture was discovered in his left foot. He underwent a second revision surgery to repair a left medial malleolus stress fracture and will require another 4-6 month recovery period.
“Obviously with me being a free agent, it makes it tough,” Collins said last month. “But I’m less concerned about what type of deal I’m going to get, or how many years it’s going to be, or who I’m going to play for … I’m more focused on this rehab and getting this ankle right.”
Bartelstein was confident he could land a multi-year contract for his client, even though Collins will miss at least a portion of next season.
San Antonio is adding at least one other free agent forward, as it also reached a three-year agreement with Doug McDermott.
Lakers Sign Dwight Howard, Wayne Ellington, Trevor Ariza
AUGUST 6: The Lakers have officially completed their deal with Howard, the team announced today (via Twitter). The club also confirmed the signings of Ellington and Ariza (Twitter links).
AUGUST 2: The Lakers are set to add three old friends as they prepare to mount another hoped-for deep postseason run for the 2021/22 season.
The team appears to be adding some much-needed perimeter shooting and big man depth after trading away wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, big men Montrezl Harrell and Kyle Kuzma and its No. 22 pick in the 2021 draft to the Wizards in a deal for the max salary of future Hall of Fame point guard Russell Westbrook last week.
The club will add free agent shooting guard Wayne Ellington on a one-year contract, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
The oft-traveled Ellington, 33, was most recently knocking down jumpers for the bottom-dwelling Pistons during the 2020/21 season. Ellington averaged 9.6 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 1.5 APG on .441/.422/.800 shooting. He was last with the Lakers during the 2014/15 season.
Los Angeles will also bring back a pair of prior Lakers champions. 2009 champ Trevor Ariza, a two-way forward, is set to re-join L.A. on a one-year deal, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).
Ariza, 36, was most recently with the Heat following a mid-season trade from Portland during the 2020/21 season. He played in 30 games with Miami, starting in 27, and averaged 9.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 1.8 APG, 1.0 SPG and 0.6 BPG across 28.0 MPG. He posted a solid shooting line of .411/.350/.773, and is a career 35.2% shooter from deep on an average of 4.1 attempts.
Ellington and Ariza should add reliable bench shooting behind the Lakers’ big three of Westbrook and All-Star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Ariza remains still a solid defender, though he is no longer at the same level of his prior Lakers days.
2020 champ Dwight Howard will return to the Lakers as well, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter).
The Lakers opted not to retain Howard after he and JaVale McGee helped proved rim-rolling and defensive moxie in the post during the team’s 2020 title run, and Howard signed on with the Sixers as All-Star Joel Embiid‘s prime backup for the 2020/21 season.
Howard, 35, has proven he can still be a sneakily-effective reserve center even in his NBA dotage, especially during the regular season. Howard averaged 7.0 PPG, 8.4 RPG, and 0.9 BPG (plus a less-great 2.9 FPG) for Philadelphia in just 17.3 MPG.
Ellington, Ariza, and Howard will all be signing one-year, minimum-salary contracts, according to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Furkan Korkmaz Re-Signs With Sixers
AUGUST 9: The Sixers have officially re-signed Korkmaz, the team announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 2: The Sixers have agreed to re-sign wing Furkan Korkmaz on a three-year, $15MM contract, agents Mike Lindeman and Jeff Schwartz told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). It’s a fully guaranteed deal, per Derek Bodner of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Philadelphia has full Bird rights on Korkmaz, which will allow the team to ink him without cutting into its mid-level exception, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets.
Korkmaz was a late first-round pick in 2016 and joined Philadelphia the following season. Last season, he appeared in 55 games, including 11 starts, and averaged 9.1 PPG. He’s a career 37.7% 3-point shooter and he’s taken 786 of his 1,260 career shot attempts from beyond the arc.
He’ll once again add depth at the small forward spot for an organization angling to make deeper playoff runs.
Bucks Re-Sign Bobby Portis
AUGUST 6: The Bucks have officially re-signed Portis, the team announced today in a press release.
AUGUST 2: The Bucks have agreed to a two-year, $9MM contract with free agent forward Bobby Portis, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The deal will include a second-year player option, according to Charania.
It’s a team-friendly rate for Portis, who played an important role in Milwaukee’s championship run this summer. As Charania explains (Twitter links), Portis turned down potential deals from the Mavericks and Heat in order to remain in Milwaukee because he appreciated the organization’s culture and winning environment and the way the community embraced him.
The Bucks were limited in their ability to offer Portis much more than what he’s getting, since they only held his Non-Bird rights. That meant the team couldn’t give him more than a 20% raise on last year’s $3.623MM salary without dipping into its mid-level exception.
It appears Milwaukee will indeed use its Non-Bird rights to bring back Portis — his two-year deal should start at about $4.35MM. If he opts out in 2022, the Bucks would have his Early Bird rights and could sign him to a more lucrative contract.
Among qualified players, only two had a higher three-point percentage in 2020/21 than Portis’ 47.1% mark. He also contributed 11.4 PPG and 7.1 RPG in 66 games (20.8 MPG).