There remains a lot to be done before the 2020-21 NBA season can get started, but probably the most important aspect that must get sorted out is the salary cap situation. Simply put, there is no way to have an offseason without establishing the salary cap.
It has long been expected that the salary cap would decline as it is based on league revenues. Due to the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the NBA suffered a major loss in revenue which will now have a huge impact on the cap and team strategy during the offseason.
If it is lower, teams will have to be very selective in how they use their cap space to bring in or re-sign players. Though nothing has been set just yet, there is an idea of just how much the cap will drop as according to Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle, the salary cap will decline somewhere between $3-12 million:
League sources have put the decline in the cap at anywhere between $3 million and $12 million. If the cap dropped $10 million, the Warriors could have to pay $15 million more in taxes than on an entire roster expected to be in the $180 million range.
A lower salary cap would mean a lower luxury tax threshold, so for a team like the Warriors that would cost them even more money. The Los Angeles Lakers don’t have that worry at this time as they aren’t a luxury tax team, but a lower cap undoubtedly means they will have to make some tough decisions on some key players who helped them win the championship.
It has already been reported that Rajon Rondo and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will opt-out of their deals and become unrestricted free agents, joining Dwight Howard who had only signed a one-year deal.
JaVale McGee and Avery Bradley each have a player option, though it is less clear what they will do. Once the Lakers re-sign Anthony Davis, they will have to figure out the best options to complete their roster.
Pre-Christmas Day start goal for 2020-21 season
With so many things still to be done in the offseason, many assumed the start of the next season would occur early in 2021, but the latest reports are the NBA hopes to start the season in December, either on or just before Christmas Day.
Christmas is one of the biggest days of the year so the NBA and its TV partners would undoubtedly love to have the revenue and ratings that come with that day, but a lot still needs to be done before teams will be ready in that amount of time.
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