It's a move that could have significant implications for potential 2016 free agents like Kevin Durant and LeBron James as well as teams that have positioned themselves to have cap space, most notably the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks.

The NBA announced Wednesday that the players' union formally rejected a so-called "cap-smoothing" proposal the league put forth to manage the influx of revenue that is coming with the $24 billion television deal with TNT and ESPN that begins after next season.

NBA teams using internal data are projecting the salary cap to jump to between $88-92 million per team, sources told ESPN. To compare, this season the cap is set at $63 million and next season it is projected to land at about $66 million. To put it into perspective, the largest salary-cap jump in history is $7 million in one season. What happens in 2016 could triple that leap.

Owners have been trying to avoid such a spike because it would dramatically raise salary levels for free agents that season. James, for example, could take his salary from about $22 million next season to around $30 million if he signs for the maximum salary in 2016.

National Basketball Players Association executive director Michele Roberts previously announced the players had unanimously rejected the NBA's offer, which would have artificially lowered the salary cap to prevent that big spike and phase in the increase over several years.

The NBA suggested that the difference be given to the union in a lump sum and divided evenly among all players. So instead of a few free agents in 2016 benefiting, all players would get a smaller piece of the TV rights deal increase. But Roberts believed long term it would not be a benefit to the players.

"The proposal that the league submitted ... would artificially deflate the salary cap," Roberts said over All-Star Weekend. "And that, of course, meant that players' salaries would not increase as much as they would otherwise were it not for smoothing. That pretty much was what killed it. It killed it in the eyes of the economists that made the recommendations, and it killed it in the eyes of the players."

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and Roberts met Tuesday to talk about a compromise, their first formal negotiating session since Roberts was hired last summer, sources told ESPN.

The league, however, had little incentive to make a deal. The collective bargaining agreement that was signed in 2011 cut the players' portion of the revenue pie from 57 percent to 51 percent. The deal has functioned extremely well for the owners, who have seen operating margins and franchise values increase significantly. Now the players are prepare for the deal to function in their favor. Silver essentially admitted over All-Star Weekend this likely would be the outcome.

"I don't want to act like it's a terrible problem to have, where we're thrilled that based on the interest in the NBA we're able to command these big increases in the television market," Silver said. "And we will live with our deal."

Broadly, this development likely means two things for the short term of league business:

• There may be some free agents this summer who only accept one-year contracts so they can retest the market in 2016, when it will be awash with available cash.

• The likelihood of a lockout in 2017 when both sides can opt out of the current CBA just increased significantly if not unexpectedly.

A) salaries this offseason will hyper inflate in anticipation
B) it'll make teams much more likely to match any offers to restricted free agents
C) if we luck out this offseason, we will be screwed next offseason because nearly every team will have cap space, and the winning teams will be more attractive.

yellowboy90 wrote:

smackeddog wrote:This is bad news for us because:

A) salaries this offseason will hyper inflate in anticipation
B) it'll make teams much more likely to match any offers to restricted free agents
C) if we luck out this offseason, we will be screwed next offseason because nearly every team will have cap space, and the winning teams will be more attractive.

That's why it is imperative that the Knicks go for their players this season even if it means overpaying because next summer the market will be wide open. They also need to show FAs that they are an attractive team that just needs a piece or two to challenge.

I completely agree- it's going to be a tense few months, it's going to be tough and we can't afford to mess up!

gunsnewing wrote:

fishmike wrote:The really interesting thing is what will Bonn and guns do with themselves when Melo's contract becomes cap friendly

eh we are still wasting $124mil on an injured, 30+, bonehead, low IQ, selfish, primadonna, digital, bulletproof player

fishmike wrote:The really interesting thing is what will Bonn and guns do with themselves when Melo's contract becomes cap friendly

I suspect the will turn their attention to the number of shots he's taking

fishmike wrote:The really interesting thing is what will Bonn and guns do with themselves when Melo's contract becomes cap friendly

fishmike wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:

fishmike wrote:The really interesting thing is what will Bonn and guns do with themselves when Melo's contract becomes cap friendly

eh we are still wasting $124mil on an injured, 30+, bonehead, low IQ, selfish, primadonna, digital, bulletproof player

If only he could average 9ppg and 6rebs he could save the franchise