NBA Salary Cap Dips by $2 Million, But Dan Gilbert's Luxury Tax May Go Up $9 Million

All those salary cap projections that have been floating around since the new NBA TV deal was signed ended up being wrong. While the cap did go up, it will only be $99 million instead of the projected $101 million. Big deal? Probably not. Surely the smart NBA front offices made contingency plans for this sort of thing.

But if you’re looking for an actual angle, how will billionaire owners be impacted? Let’s take Dan Gilbert in Cleveland:

Here is how a lowered tax impacts Cleveland before FA begins based on a projected $140m in payroll.

$119m tax $70m
$121m tax $61m
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) June 22, 2017

To a billionaire like Gilbert, this doesn’t sound like a huge deal. Nine million is basically pocket change; Gilbert finds that between the pillows on his sofa.

But for an owner who has paid the luxury tax multiple years in a row, how much is too much? Nobody knows because Gilbert is a recluse and rarely gives interviews. But actions speak louder than words, and he refused to retain his GM, David Griffin.

So, we’re left to speculate.

And if you need one more crumb that leads you to believe LeBron is gone after next season … well, there you go.