Salary Cap Could Rise Steadily, Not Rapidly

The cap is at $63 million today. If it leaps to $70 million next summer and approaches $80 million for 2016-17, a team like the Rockets can load more bullets into the free-agency chamber. A big-market team without any visible plan beyond a vague goal of luring stars might suddenly have room beyond two max-level slots — crucial for convincing stars to join an empty venture in Los Angeles or (eventually) Brooklyn.

This is one reason the league might introduce new TV revenue in a way that spreads the cap increase over a longer period of time, per several sources familiar with the matter. The union has a seat in that discussion, since it has to sign off on any change to the formula that determines the cap, and it may not want Anthony Davis earning $10 million more per year on his max contract than Kyrie Irving does on his max just because Davis had the dumb luck of entering the league a year later.

via Zach Lowe of Grantland