In anticipation of the NBA’s major TV deal, the Miami Heat have put themselves in position to be major players in the free agency of 2016.
With the NBA’s new television deal between ESPN and TNT finally announced, teams can turn their attention to how this will impact their team-building plans and how to approach future off-seasons. For the Miami Heat, it means their planning this past summer could pay off big.
First, here is a portion of the statement released by the league Monday morning. The deal is expected to be worth $24 billion (roughly $2.67 billion per year, up from the current $930 million annually) over nine years.
"The National Basketball Association (NBA) has expanded its partnerships with Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and The Walt Disney Company through new, nine-year agreements under which ABC, TNT, and ESPN will televise NBA games beginning with the 2016-17 season and running through the 2024-25 season."
But why do you and I care? You, nor I, give a flying flop if Adam Silver, John Skipper and David Levy keep padding the lining of their pockets with million-dollar bills. But the new deal greatly impact the cap, and will help set up the Heat for a potentially huge off-season in 2016.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe projects how much the cap could rise.
"The league right now projects a jump to $66.5 million for 2015-16, a modest rise pegged to the final year of that modest $930 million TV deal. If the new TV deal kicks in for the 2016-17 season just shy of $2 billion, the cap could exceed that same $14 million leap, all the way to around $80-plus million, in a single year. If for some reason the new TV deal starts north of $2 billion in the first year — meaning it would include smaller year-over-year jumps — the cap for 2016-17 could leap even higher. If it started at that exact $2.68 billion figure, it would break $90 million, according to my own math and some bleary-eyed late-Sunday projections from cap gurus around the league."
After losing LeBron James this off-season, Heat President Pat Riley and the front office only agreed to two contracts–those of Chris Bosh and Josh McRoberts–that extend beyond 2016, when the new contract takes effect. Shabazz Napier’s rookie deal could extend beyond 2016, but that is easily movable.
As the South Florida Sun-Sentinel’s Ira Winderman points out, the Heat have put themselves in a position to be flexible. As are the players.
"While several Heat players, including Dwyane Wade, Luol Deng and Danny Granger have opt-out clauses for the 2015 offseason, Riley indicated the focus is on 2016 and the infusion of significant salary-cap space throughout the NBA.“It could be next year,” Riley said of a possible Heat overhaul. “They could opt out next year and we could be in the game next year.”"
The league and teams could opt to smooth out the new money in order to gradually increase the cap, rather than make one giant leap that could have damaging effects on teams that often cannot control themselves (case and point: the Brooklyn Nets).
Still, the cap is absolutely going to jump at a larger rate than we are used to. Remember Bosh’s maximum five-year, $118 million contract that many deemed as too expensive for the stretch-4? That’s going to look like pennies on the dollar in this new cap, where that contract will fit under quite comfortable. (And you doubted Riles, come on.)
Oh, and you know who is a free agent in 2016? Kevin Durant. Durant’s expected availability combined with the cap is sure to create the biggest free agency event in the history of the NBA, surely dwarfing that of LeBron James in regards to sheer money amounts. As stated before, this will be the first summer teams will have the ability to spend boat-loads of cash under the increased cap. Front offices won’t completely have a handle on how to handle all this money, and some are sure to be irresponsible with it.
The Heat have positioned themselves to be in the mix for Durant, as well as guys like Joakim Noah, Michael Conley, Al Horford and Nic Batum. Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, DeMar DeRozan and Chandler Parsons all have opt-out clauses too.
The Heat may not have the historical summer they had in 2010, but they are putting themselves in position to have options. That’s what Riley did in planning for 2010 and he, as well as many other teams around the league, have done so in anticipation of this monster TV deal.