Now that the New York Knicks have both a president and a head coach with championship pedigrees, one would think there should be no problem luring championship caliber players to a city that’s been starving for a title since 1973. But any visions of grandeur in the Big Apple, at least in the near future, are predicated on the upcoming decision of their star, Carmelo Anthony.

There has been widespread speculation about a lack of desire for the 30-year-old to remain in what would surely be a rebuilding process in New York under the new regime headed by Phil Jackson, with neophyte coach Derek Fisher this week added to the mix. Anthony has the right to become a free agent this summer, or he could remain with the Knicks for another season before his contract expires.

Numerous reports have linked Anthony to the possibility of joining LeBron James in Miami, with the Heat’s James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh all in position to terminate their contracts by the end of the month as well. That flexibility could position the Heat to potentially create salary-cap space to add Anthony to the mix.

The success of the Heat’s 2010 free-agent bonanza has established them as one of the NBA’s destination franchises, with owner Micky Arison empowering big-thinking team president Pat Riley to attempt to pull off another coup despite the limitations of the new and more restrictive collective bargaining agreement.

Discussions have reportedly begun within the Heat organization about trying to grow their so-called Big Three into a Big Four. Heat officials have already started to explore their options for creating sufficient financial flexibility to make an ambitious run at adding the Knicks’ scoring machine this summer in free agency.

Can Pat Riley pull this off again? Is it even possible?  Read more…

The NBA is thriving!

Just three years removed from a time when we were all seduced by claims of poverty from owners facing supposed losses that were mounting so quickly and so heavily that they forced a nasty lockout that nearly cost us the entire 2011-12 NBA season, we’ve entered into a period of unprecedented success for a league which has never been stronger.

Profits are soaring.

Just about every team in the NBA that wants to be profitable can now be profitable, and without taking drastic Jeffrey-Loria-like actions that adversely affect their fan bases in doing so (here’s to you, Miguel Cabrera!).⁽¹⁾ Teams aren’t just profitable; they’re wildly profitable. The league as a whole projects to generate roughly $300 million in basketball profit this year. More than half of the league’s teams should produce eight-figure profits. One or two could touch $100 million!

Rising profitability means rising team valuations.

Just last year, the Maloof family sold a 65% stake in the Sacramento Kings along with Sleep Train Arena to a group led by tech entrepreneur Vivek Ranadive at an all-time record valuation of $534 million, despite the team playing in one of the league’s smallest markets. And that was after owners blocked the Maloofs’ agreement with investor Chris Hansen to buy and relocate the Kings to Seattle at a total franchise valuation of $625 million.

That all-time record valuation was eclipsed earlier this month, when Herb Kohl sold the Milwaukee Bucks, widely considering the least valuable team in the league, to hedge-fund billionaires Wesley Edens and Marc Lasry for $550 million (without an accompanying arena), a price which would likely have been significantly higher had Kohl, who paid just $18 million for the team in 1985, not required as a condition to the sale that the team remain in the city and with the fans of Milwaukee. It was a stunning amount for the Bucks, who are universally regarded as having the worst financial situation of any NBA team. And yet, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban called the purchase price a bargain, suggesting that even the least valuable NBA franchises are truly worth more than $1 billion.

That newly-minted all-time record valuation is about to get shattered. The impending forced sale of the Los Angeles Clippers, who play in the second largest market in the NBA, is about to multiply the current record times four! Former Microsoft executive Steve Ballmer has agreed to buy the team for a whopping $2 billion! That’s the second highest price ever paid for any professional sports franchise. The Dodgers baseball team, also of Los Angeles, were sold to the Guggenheim Group for $2.15 billion in 2012, but that price included land, parking lots and TV deals. The only real estate involved in the Clippers deal is for their training facility in Playa Vista. So, not a bad return on a $12.5 million investment by Donald Sterling in 1981. The deal has been submitted to the league for final approval.

Why the massive change?  Read more…

In the summer of 2010, the Miami Heat changed the course of team and league history. As a result of two trade calls held with the NBA league office in less than an hour on July 10, the Heat completed sign-and-trade transactions with both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors, acquiring LeBron James and Chris Bosh in the process.

James and Bosh were to be paired with Heat incumbent free agent Dwyane Wade as the launching point for what would ultimately become the Big Three era. In the three subsequent seasons, the Heat have gone on to reach the NBA Finals all three times, winning the NBA championship twice. Their pursuit of a third consecutive title begins tonight.

Amidst the jubilation of the day, some questioned the manner in which Heat president Pat Riley chose to acquire his two new players. The Heat had the necessary cap room at the time to sign them outright. Why, then, pursue the trade?

Both players were eligible for maximum salaries of $16.6 million in the first year of any new contract signed, whether it was with their prior teams, with the Heat, or with anyone else. But while the starting salary was to be the same no matter where they signed, the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement gives the home team a financial advantage when it comes to re-signing its own players. Both players’ home teams were eligible to offer their respective player one more year (six instead of five) and bigger annual raises (10.5% instead of 8%). That translated to a maximum potential offer of $125.5 million over six years, versus the $96.1 million over five years that the Heat could offer.

James and Bosh utilized the structure not to make the increased money, but rather to mitigate the impact of taking less. They leveraged the sign-and-trade structure to take a reduced starting salary of $14.5 million – $2.1 million less than the maximum – in order to accommodate the contracts of Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem. (Wade, too, did the same).

Each structured the longer six year deal with the higher 10.5% maximum raises, but with the lower starting salary. The contracts paid out $109.8 million over the six years, roughly $15.5 million less than they otherwise could have made had they accepted full max deals.

The sign-and-trade structure, however, came at a cost for Miami.  Read more…

The NBA has issued new projections for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 salary cap and luxury tax thresholds. All 30 teams were informed this week via league memorandum that the 2014-15 cap and tax threshold are now projected to be $63.2 million and $77.0 million, respectively. The numbers for 2015-16 are now projected to be $66.5 million and $81.0 million, respectively.

It should be noted that these are non-binding forecasts that have been circulated more than months before the official salary cap and luxury-tax threshold for the 2014-15 season are announced in early July, following a league-wide audit (that’s what July Moratorium is for). As part of the audit, accountants jointly appointed by the NBA and the player’s association finalize the total revenue haul during the past season and, on that basis, project the revenues for the upcoming year.

They then take 44.74% of that projected amount, subtract projected benefits, and divide by 30 (the number of teams in the league) to get the salary cap for the season ahead. Adjustments are then made to the cap if players received way too much (or way too little) in salaries and benefits for the then prior season relative to the finalized revenue figure; this serves as a mechanism to maintain the integrity of the agreed-to revenue spit between owners and players. The luxury tax uses a similar formula, but is based on 53.51% of projected revenues.

The salary cap and luxury tax values for the current season are $58.679 million and $71.748 million, respectively, which means the new cap projection for next season represents a 7.75% increase over this season. This is a pretty big jump — the league’s baseline assumption for year-to-year increases is 4.5%.  Read more…

If the Miami Heat haven’t exactly lived up to expectations thus far this season, it isn’t because of their spending.

Despite making some unpopular moves last summer – utilizing the amnesty provision to waive Mike Miller, declining to utilize the mid-level exception – the Heat spent more on player payroll this season than in any other season in team history.

The Heat ended the regular season with a team salary of $80.6 million – which, perhaps surprisingly, amounts to $2.8 million less than last season’s record total.

But team salary isn’t an accurate depiction of a team’s actual spending on player payroll and related costs. There are several adjustments that need to be taken into account.

First, team salary doesn’t factor in mid-season trades. For example, if a team trades a player midway through the season, his salary comes off team salary entirely, even though salary payments will have already been made. Joel Anthony and Roger Mason, Jr. were each traded during the season. Prior to their trades, they had received a combined $2.4 million in salary payments from the Heat. Conversely, the Heat received Toney Douglas in trade midway through the season. Though his $1.6 million salary appears on the Heat’s team salary, the Heat itself was only responsible for $856K of that total. Adjusting appropriately for these trades, then, takes the team’s payroll to $82.2 million.  Read more…

The kingly play of LeBron James has been one of the most compelling aspects of the NBA since his entrance into the league eleven years ago. Lately, however, the experience of watching the world’s greatest basketball player ply his trade has taken on an entirely new significance. Outrageously efficient shooting is producing historic implications.

Every trip down the floor serves as a reminder that James simply cannot be stopped. His every touch of the basketball brings its own terrifying potential. He goes wherever he wants to go. He does whatever he wants to do. He scores seemingly at will, from anywhere on the court, with mid-boggling efficiency. Without much concern at all for defenses, physical limitations, or the confluence of factors that invariably guide the performances of all of his fellow humanoids. He is perhaps the most dominant player in NBA history.

When one reaches such a level of on-court brilliance, said person invariably develops an arrogance about his play — a me-first attitude that negates the potential contributions of others. Not James. Despite being perhaps the most dominant player in NBA history, and despite being constantly vilified for his deference in spite of that dominance, James continues to be among the most selfless superstars in NBA history as well.

What makes LeBron James such a unique basketball talent? Perhaps it’s his never before duplicated combination of dominance and selflessness. In the history of the NBA, the list of players to average at least 25 points per game, while shooting at least 54% from the field and averaging at least 6 assists per game in a season is as follows:

LeBron James.

No other playmaker has ever had a scoring season as potent, and no premier scorer has ever had a season with such productive passing as James. And James hasn’t just done it once. He’s done it twice. In a row. And he didn’t just eclipse those numbers. He shattered them!  Read more…

Before the playoffs begin, before championship aspirations are fought for, before future planning is deliberated, let’s take a moment to acknowledge something truly remarkable that has quietly transpired in the midst of a largely torturous regular season. Dwyane Wade has completed a historic shooting year.

For a second consecutive season that started with questions about whether his skills were in serious decline, Wade has transcended the doubters, and the injuries, to accomplish the spectacular.

He shot 54.5% from the field in 2013-14.

How good is that?

Well… It represents the best shooting season for any shooting guard in the past 31 years. It represents the second best shooting season for any shooting guard who averaged double-digit points of all time. It represents the third best shooting season for any starting shooting guard of all time. And it represents the fourth best shooting season for any shooting guard of all time.

That bears repeating: Dwyane Wade just produced the best shooting season for any shooting guard in the past 31 years, and the fourth best in NBA history!  Read more…

It has been suggested that the Miami Heat were engaged by the Philadelphia 76ers with an interesting proposition at the Feb. 20 NBA trading deadline. It has been suggested that Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie proposed a trade to Heat general manager Pat Riley of Evan Turner, in exchange for Udonis Haslem and a future first round draft pick.

Riley reportedly rejected.

Did he do the right thing? Well, that’s for you to decide.

The Mechanics

Let’s get a couple things out of the way before we begin.

First, the rumored trade, as described, doesn’t work. It violates salary cap rules.

Taxpaying teams like the Heat can only take back up to 125% of their outgoing salaries, plus $100K, no matter how much salary the team is sending away.

Haslem makes $4.3 million this year. He can therefore only be traded for a player(s) who makes as much as $5.5 million. Turner makes $6.7 million.

When trades are rumored about, oftentimes only the vital components are leaked. The technical details are often either not yet established or not considered vital, and are therefore not leaked alongside the rest of the trade. If indeed this rumor is true, that may be what’s happened here, particularly because the solution is simple. If the Heat were to add an expiring contract to the deal – say, for example, Rashard Lewis – the trade would be legal.

Second, there’s the matter of the draft pick. The concept of including a first round draft pick is quite vague. When would that pick be conferred? What protections would be attached to it?

The Heat’s current predicament answers these questions, and quite nicely.  Read more…

The Miami Heat have made the first use of their NBA D-League affiliate after purchasing operational control this season, with Tuesday’s questionable signing of swingman DeAndre Liggins of the Sioux Falls Skyforce to a 10-day contract.

Liggins had been playing with the Skyforce as an unaffiliated player, and was free to sign with any NBA team.

The 6-foot-6-inch, 209-pound Chicago native was originally recruited out of high school as a point guard by the University of Kentucky for the incoming class of 2008. He spent his first two years mostly coming off the bench, but in his junior year, coach John Calipari decided to start him as a shooting guard. After his junior season, he elected to enter the 2011 NBA Draft.

Liggins was selected with the 53rd overall pick by the Orlando Magic. He spent the year with the Magic on a one-year minimum salary contract, barely playing. He went on sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the 2012-13 season, during which time he had multiple assignments with the D-League’s Tulsa 66ers.  Read more…

The Miami Heat have dumped the contract of Roger Mason Jr. at the Feb. 20 trade deadline, in a move that saves owner Micky Arison $1.05 million and opens up a roster spot to utilize either on a current free agent or on a player to be waived over the next 10 days.

The Heat will send Mason Jr. to the Sacramento Kings, who are expected to immediately waive him. They’ll also send $786,095 in cash to complete the deal.

While that amount of cash may seem random, it actually isn’t.

Mason Jr. is a 10-year N.B.A. veteran. He is playing under a one-year contract. He is earning $1,399,507, the minimum salary for a player with his tenure. However, he is only required to be paid $884,293 of that amount, equal to the minimum salary for a two-year N.B.A. veteran. The league will reimburse the rest at the end of the season. Therefore, he really only costs the smaller amount, and only the smaller amount is included in team salary for cap and tax purposes. They do this so teams won’t shy away from signing older veterans simply because they are more expensive than younger veterans.

As for the mechanics of how the reimbursement works, he is to be paid his full prorated salary of $8,232.39 per day (equal to his $1,399,507 salary divided by the 170 days in the regular season), until the total reaches $884,293. At that point, he continues to get paid his fully prorated salary but the league reimburses the rest. With the regular season having started on Oct. 29, he earned that much by Feb. 13, 2014. Since that time, his services have essentially been free of charge for the Heat.

However, since the contract has now been traded, the reimbursement will get allocated to the respective teams based on the number of days accrued with each team. Therefore, while the Kings will be responsible for the $452,782 remaining on his contract for the 55 days left in the regular season, they will actually only owe $286,095 after accounting for the reimbursement.

The Heat essentially covered his remaining salary obligations for the Kings, and then topped it off with a $500,000 profit, which serves as the only impetus for Sacramento to make the deal.

In order to send something back, which is required in all trades, the Kings will return the Heat a 2015 second-round pick which is protected for selections 31-49 and 56-60. If the pick ultimately falls within either of its protected ranges and is therefore not conveyed, then Sacramento’s obligation to Miami will be extinguished. This essentially means that the Heat will only get the pick if it lands between pick numbers 50 and 55.

While this range may seem random, it actually isn’t.

The Kings intended to provide enough protection on the pick to ensure that it will never be received. Such trades are commonplace in the N.B.A., and are typically accomplished by trading away a second-round pick on condition that it lands within the last five of the draft. However, the Kings have previously traded the pick to the Boston Celtics with that condition. So, now, the Celtics will receive the pick if it is among the last five, the Heat will receive the pick if it is among the previous five, and the Kings will retain the pick if it is among the first twenty of the second round, as is likely.  Read more…