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« on: February 18, 2023, 08:06:25 AM »
We are a year into the new cash exchange rules and they are not having the intended impact so I would like to revisit the max 25% of total contract rule for a limit that actually works.
The intention of limits on cash exchanges was to attempt to prevent super teams from forming due to being able to circumvent the cap limits by way of cash exchanges. The current rules of a max 25% of total contract is obviously not working as San Antonio Spurs has an actual salary of $148.8m + $4.7m in available cap space for a total of $153.5m. That's $43.5m above the $110m cap! Orlando Magic has $144.7m in actual salary +$2.6m in available cap space for a total of $147.3m. That's $37.3m above the $110m cap! It's a major reason they are 1st and 4th in the standings.
I had a really good potential manager turn down an invite to the league a few months ago because he saw the salary of San Antonio and didn't want to be in a league where a team can be that far above the cap.
The max 25% rule is not curbing the development of super teams, but it is curbing the ability of teams to rebuild. When I had Bojan Bogdanovic on the Los Angeles Clippers team earlier this season it was very hard to deal him as he was on an expiring contract of $18.7m. I could therefore pay less on him in the current season ($4.6m) than if he was on a longer contract due to the max 25% total contract rule. The max 25% total contract rule makes it easier to deal a player on a long term contract than a player on a short term contract, which is the opposite of the real NBA. Wanting to be like the real NBA was one of the main reasons managers didn't want to lose the cash exchanges. Another example of the max 25% rule hurting rebuilding managers would be the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. They have a lot of slightly overpaid players on expiring contracts and are looking to rebuild. These are the exact type of players that are typically moved at the trade deadline in the real NBA and should be moved in this league. Unfortunately with the 25% max of total contract rule it is difficult to move these overpaid expiring contracts.
My proposal:
In speaking with Billy this would be easy to keep track of through a slight change in the setup of the spreadsheet at the top. The NBA has a soft cap and a hard cap. We would also have a soft cap and a hard cap.
1) Remove Max 25% of Total Contract Cash Exchange Limit
2) Implement Cap Change Rules: Soft Cap of $110m, Hard Cap of $125m
The soft cap would operate using the exact same formula currently used for the salary cap now (total salaries +/- cash exchanges + buyouts/releases). The hard cap is total contract value of active players + IR players without taking into account cash exchanges. It still includes the buyouts/releases. In the spreadsheet it would just be a separate column tracking the total salaries for a team next to the current cap for each year so it would be super simple to track. It would be even easier to track than the current salary cap as it doesn't include cash exchanges.
The hard cap allows teams to have players totaling a max of $125m so it still allows cash exchanges. This curbs the creation of super teams as they can go up to a total of $125m, not $150m+ (actually no max limit at all). It also allows teams such as Oklahoma City Thunder to sell off a lot of players at the trade deadline and rebuild as they can pay in full of any player at any salary as long as the team receiving them stays under the $110m soft cap and $125m hard cap. This gives rebuilding teams a major boost in trading those short term contracts of veterans, which is more realistic and like the real NBA.
Using Bojan Bogdanovic as an example and his expiring $18.7m contract he could be traded fully paid to a team that is looking to make a title run if they had no other cash exchanges and $3.7m left in available cap space ($106.3m). If Team A has $106.3m in total salary and no cash exchanges, buyouts or releases, they would be at $106.3m soft cap (total salaries +/- cash exchanges) and $106.3m hard cap (total salaries + $0 buyouts/releases). They could take on Bojan Bogdanovic $18.7m fully paid. This would keep them at $106.3m soft cap (what we have now as it adds Bojan $18.7m minus $18.7m paid) and increase them to $125m hard cap ($106.3m current salary + Bojan's $18.7m salary).
It also allows teams to pay fully on a max contract if they want to as long as the receiving team stays within the $110m soft cap and $115m hard cap. This allows rebuilding teams to quickly shift from rebuilding to competing. Miami Heat currently has $93.5m total soft cap (current cap calculation) and $54.8m hard cap ($43.2m total salary + $11.6m releases). If Miami or any other team has drafted a few good players and has a lot of draft picks and decides they want to start competing they could trade for two max contract guys fully paid and remain at $93.5m for the soft cap and increase to $114.8m for the hard cap. It still allows for a lot of very large cash exchanges, but doesn't allow a team to become a super team by going well above and beyond the total cap of $110m like we allow now. This would help Cleveland Cavaliers that want to switch from building a championship team to rebuilding as they can now pay more on their veterans if they find a team that has a lot of cap space as calculated by the hard cap that is looking to switch from rebuilding to competing (Los Angeles Clippers, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat).
This proposal reigns in the extraordinary amounts teams can go over the salary cap, while adding a soft cap/hard cap like the real NBA and allowing rebuilding teams to better rebuild through cash exchanges. It increases league parity by making sure the cash exchanges from rebuilding teams aren't all going to a few teams. It is also easy to keep track of in the spreadsheet. The math is also a lot easier as well than max 25% of total contract and large cash exchanges are still possible and able to be completed.
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