“What does the Brooklyn Nets salary cap situation look like right now? Are they in luxury tax hell?”, you might be asking while you’re bored at work and trying to distract yourself in any way possible from reality. Here at The Brooklyn Game, we have your answers:
- The Nets currently have *about* $94 million committed in salary this upcoming season to 13 players: Joe Johnson, Deron Williams, Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, Jarrett Jack, Bojan Bogdanovic, Steve Blake, Sergey Karasev, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris McCullough, Markel Brown, Cory Jefferson, and Earl Clark. Over $76 million goes to the top four guys alone. Brown, Jefferson, and Clark on non-guaranteed deals, and the exact monetary values for Lopez & Young’s contracts haven’t been released yet, which is why it’s an inexact figure. But think of that as a starting point.
- $94 million puts the Nets at about $13 million over the luxury tax line, which would cost them around $37.5 million in luxury tax payments with the repeater tax. Take off Clark’s non-guaranteed deal and it’s down to a little over $33 million.
- Assuming they keep all 13, the Nets have two open roster spots, which could go to restricted free agent Mirza Teletovic and their taxpayer mid-level exception, a three-year deal worth $10.6 million. The Nets can match any offer Teletovic gets in the NBA, or Teletovic can choose to sign a one-year qualifying offer for $4.2 million and become an unrestricted free agent next year.
- One example: if the Nets keep all 13 players, sign Teletovic at the qualifying offer, and give someone the taxpayer mid-level, they’ll be at just over $101 million in salary commitments, with an added ~$63 million in the luxury tax. Yes, you read that right — with the repeater tax, signing Teletovic and a taxpayer mid-level player would add $30 million to the Nets’ tax bill.
- It’s highly unlikely that the Nets do all that, though. They’re actively mining the trade market for most of their veterans, and Teletovic may have been priced out of their plans. If they trade Joe Johnson or Deron Williams, things change drastically. But for now, that’s where they stand.
- For 2016-17, assuming the stuff in this note[note]Deron Williams, Sergey Karasev, Cory Jefferson, and Markel Brown stay; Jarrett Jack gets waived.[/note], the Nets have around $66 million committed to nine players[note]Again, this is an estimate because Young & Lopez’s deals have not become official, and we have no idea who else the Nets might sign this offseason.[/note], with the salary cap projected at $89 million, not enough to sign a max contract, but very, very close, and well below next year’s luxury tax line.
