Category: NBA

The NBA announced on Sunday that its salary cap for the 2024–25 season would be $140.588 million.

Compared to the January report of $141 million, it represents a minor decline. On Monday, the cap became effective at 12:01 a.m. ET. At 6 p.m.

on Sunday, teams were permitted to deal with free agents other than those on their own teams.

The cap is predicated on the anticipated revenue from basketball for the forthcoming campaign.

The 2024–25 cap is 3.4% higher than the 2023–24 cap of $136 million.

It comes after consecutive years of hikes of 10%, which is the maximum amount that the cap can rise in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement.

With the league on the cusp of negotiating a TV agreement worth at least $75 billion and more than a 150% rise on the previous yearly average, next season will probably be the last one for the foreseeable future without a 10% cap raise.

It would result in a $206 million ceiling for the 2028–2029 campaign.

90% of the wage cap is represented by the $126.5 million minimum club pay for the season.

A team is required to pay the league the difference if its payroll falls short of the minimum. Additionally, clubs who fail to meet the minimum are not eligible to receive a portion of the NBA’s luxury tax payments, which are given to non-taxpaying teams.

According to projections from ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the NBA normally gives half of its luxury tax revenues to the clubs that remain below the tax threshold, which for 2023–24 is $12 million per team.

With the first “apron” at $178.1 million and the second apron at $188.9 million, the tax level for the 2024–25 season is $170.8 million.

According to Marks, the Golden State Warriors ($177 million), Los Angeles Clippers ($142 million), Phoenix Suns ($68 million), Milwaukee Bucks ($53 million), and Boston Celtics ($44 million) will have the most luxury tax liabilities for the 2023–24 season.

Other taxpayers were the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and Denver Nuggets.

Because the rookie scale is linked to the cap, the final cap amount also indicates that rookie contracts for first-round NBA Draft picks will be 3.4% higher than the class from the prior year.

The Atlanta Hawks selected Zachary Risacher first overall, and he should agree to a four-year contract worth $57 million.

Although the NBA limit will only be raised slightly, its long-term rise will outpace that of other American sports leagues and salary caps in other sports.

For the 2014–15 season, the NBA salary cap was $63 million, which was over 10% less than the NHL cap of $69 million.

However, the NBA’s cap skyrocketed after its $24 billion TV deal went into effect.

The NHL has gained 28% since the 2014–15 season, while the NBA cap has increased by 123%. The NFL cap has increased by 92%.

 

 

 

According to official NBA estimations provided by CNBC Sport, the average value of a National Basketball Association team is $4.66 billion.

With a valuation of $6.49 billion, the league sits in the middle of the average National Football League club and $1.92 billion, the average National Hockey League team.

With a $9.4 billion valuation, the Golden State Warriors are the most valued NBA club.

In the 2023–24 season, the Warriors made the most money in the NBA ($781 million), net of their revenue-sharing contribution.

The Warriors own the Chase Center in San Francisco, where they also make money from non-NBA events.

According to a league executive, the team earned around $200 million in sponsorship money last season, which is almost twice as much as any other team.

One of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history, James Harden was born in Los Angeles, California, on August 26, 1989.

He helped popularize the three-point shot, which completely changed the game. In 2018, Harden was crowned the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) and won three scoring titles.

He has played for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Brooklyn Nets, and Philadelphia 76ers in the past, but he is currently with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Monja Willis and James Harden, Sr. were Harden’s parents in Los Angeles, but his mother reared him most of the time. The family resided in Compton, California, and had a sister and a half-brother.

At first, Harden concentrated on baseball, pitching and playing first base. But while playing for a recreational team in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles at the age of ten, he fell in love with basketball.

As a junior and senior, Harden led Artesia High School in neighboring Lakewood, California, to consecutive state titles while averaging over 19 points per game.

Several prominent Pac-10 (later Pac-12) universities, including the University of Washington, the University of Arizona, and the University of California at Los Angeles, recruited Harden.

In the end, he committed to the Arizona State Sun Devils. He led the conference in steals and averaged 17.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game in his first season (2007–08). Harden made the Pac-10’s all-freshman team and first team.

The following season, Harden averaged 20.1 points and 4.2 assists per game, demonstrating even better play. He was a unanimous All-American and the Pac-10’s Player of the Year.

Harden announced his intention to enter the NBA draft following the Sun Devils’ defeat in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The Oklahoma City Thunder selected Harden with the third overall choice in the NBA. Despite not starting his rookie campaign (2009–10), he averaged 9.9 points per game while playing 76 games off the bench.

Harden was selected to the All-Rookie second team at the end of the season. Over the following two seasons, he kept coming off the bench, and in 2011–12, he averaged nearly 17 points per game, 3.7 assists, and 4.1 rebounds.

The Thunder lost to the Miami Heat in five games despite making it to the NBA Finals that season. Harden received the Sixth Man of the Year award from the NBA, which

recognizes the best bench player in the league. He also played on the American men’s basketball team, who took home a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics.

Harden was gaining popularity at this time for both his performance and his thick beard, which came to define his appearance.

Harden turned down Oklahoma City’s offer of a four-year, $55 million contract extension during the offseason.

He was moved to the Houston Rockets just before the 2012–13 regular season began, and the Rockets promptly signed him to a five-year, $80 million deal extension.

Harden went from the bench to the starting lineup because he was expected to be a key member of the squad.

He paid off the Rockets’ risk by scoring 25.9 points per game and earning his first NBA All-Star selection.

Despite losing in the opening round, Houston qualified for the playoffs for the first time in four years that year. The 2014–15 season saw Harden score 27.4 points per game.

game and increased his assists to seven, placing him second in the MVP voting (behind Stephen Curry).

The Harden-led Rockets finished among the league’s top teams in the 2010s, despite their lack of postseason success.

Harden won his first MVP title in the 2017–18 campaign, scoring 30.4 points and dishing out 8.8 assists per game.

He also took home the NBA scoring title for the first time that season. In the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons, he scored 36.1 and 34.3 points per game, respectively, continuing his recent hot streak. He led the league in scoring in both seasons.

Harden’s three-point shot, in which he steps back before releasing the ball, has contributed to some of his success.

In the sport, the step-back three-pointer has gained immense popularity and significantly boosted the quantity of three-pointers made and taken.

The Rockets had advanced to the postseason each season up until this point in Harden’s time there, but they had never gone past the Western Conference finals. As a result, Harden demanded a trade in 2020, and the Brooklyn Nets acquired him early the following year.

Harden continued to produce strong stats in a more restricted role, but he started to struggle with hamstring problems.

Despite having a squad full of elite players, including his Thunder teammate Kevin Durant, the Nets were unable to find playoff success, and Harden was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in the middle of the 2021–22 season.

Joel Embiid, a dominant big man, was his partner there, and Harden had a successful 2022–2023 campaign. Despite missing his first All-Star squad after tenin his new role as a supporting actor.

Harden, however, asked for a trade in August 2023 following a playoff loss in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and the Los Angeles Clippers acquired him in October.

The National Basketball League (established in 1937) and the Basketball Association of America (created in 1946) merged to form the National Basketball Association (NBA), a professional basketball league in the United States, in 1949.

The American Basketball Association (ABA) collapsed in 1976, and four of its clubs joined the NBA.

The NBA was beset by losing teams, low attendance, dwindling TV ratings, and a lack of widespread appeal by the early 1980s.

Under the direction of David Stern, the NBA commissioner in 1984, the league quickly recovered and became a global entertainment conglomerate. Star players like Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan in particular were emphasized by aggressive marketing.

Additional improvements included enlarged All-Star Game celebrations, lucrative broadcast rights for network and cable television, and league restrictions on player compensation.

 

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey has spent the last two seasons exceeding everyone’s wildest expectations for him after he was signed out of the USFL back in 2023.

 

Since joining the NFL in 2023, Aubrey has led the league in field goals (76), field goals from 50 yards or deeper (24), and field goals from 60 yards or deeper (three).

In 2023, Aubrey led the league in field goals with 36, including an NFL record 35 consecutive to begin his career.

In 2024, he was named to the NFL’s second-team All-Pro kicker and was a Pro Bowler, with 40 made field goals, including an NFL single-season record 14 from 50 yards or deeper.

In Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens, Aubrey’s 65-yard made field goal was the longest in NFL history and the longest in Cowboys history.

Yeah, absolutely,” Aubrey said, via The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on Tuesday when asked if he’d want to get a contract extension done this offseason.

“I’m eligible for an extension so it’s up to my agent to go up to the Cowboys and see if there’s any interest in signing it there early.

If an extension comes, then an extension comes. If not, I’m still making 10 times what I was making working code (prior to football), so I’m pretty happy.”

What could Aubrey, who turns 30 on March 14, ask for? According to OverThe.

Cap.com, Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs, who is on a four-year, $25.6 million extension with $15 million in fully guaranteed money, is the highest paid kicking position in the league in terms of both contract value ($25.6 million) and average salary ($6.4 million).

Aubrey, who is from Plano, Texas (a Dallas suburb), will likely look for a similar commitment in terms of contract length to remain locked into living near his family.

In terms of money, he should expect to reset the market after hiring Dak Prescott’s agent, Todd France, last offseason.

The four-year, $240 million extension France negotiated for Prescott last offseason made him the highest-paid player in the entire NFL on an average per year basis ($60 million). A four-year, $26 million extension might do the trick for Aubrey and France.

The 2025 season will bring a huge change for Aubrey’s kicking process with John “Bones” Fassel, Dallas’ special teams coordinator the past five seasons, now in the same role with the Tennessee Titans after Mike McCarthy parted ways with the Cowboys this offseason.

Fassel was also the one who first noticed Aubrey when he was with the Birmingham Stallions in the USFL.

He’s a good friend, a mentor,” Aubrey said. “He’s someone who discovered me and started my NFL career off right.

I came into training camp battling for position, and they could’ve strung that decision out for a long time, but they made it nice and quick for me. It gave me a lot of confidence and built me up. He gave me every opportunity to succeed.”

The way it works best for me is as a separate kicking coach,” Aubrey stated.

“I know other coaches may take a more hands-on approach, but I’m not sure how it works outside of Dallas.

However, I’ve been working with a coach for the past five or six years. He understands me just as well as I do.

When the Cowboys kicker inquired about Aubrey’s new special teams coordinator, Nick Sorensen, at the Pro Bowl, players who had already worked with him gave him high marks.

Brian Schottenheimer, the new head coach of Dallas, is a two-time All-Pro kicker who may surprise many who are skeptical of the hiring decision.

“He knows football and has a sharp mind,” Aubrey remarked of Schottenheimer.

“Obviously, you can’t assess someone at a profession unless they get the opportunity to do it, as he has been in it all his life and has never had the chance to be a head coach.

I believe he’s going to surprise a lot of people, so we should give him a chance and let him go.”

 

The clubs that have most exceeded expectations are the Houston Rockets (18th), Memphis Grizzlies (17th), and LA Clippers (20th), according to the Week 1 Power Rankings, which were released the day before opening night.

The biggest letdowns, meanwhile, have been the New Orleans Pelicans (12th), Phoenix Suns (6th), and Philadelphia 76ers (8th).

Two of those three underperforming teams have been hampered by injuries, and the season is yet halfway through! Although it is unlikely that a team will replicate the Miami Heat’s 2016–17 comeback (11–30 in their first 41 games, 30–11 in their final 41), we can anticipate additional surprises and letdowns over the course of the next three months.

One of the NBA’s most disappointing teams thus far this season has been the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Even though All-Star Anthony Edwards had a stellar season, the team’s offense and defense have suffered since Karl-Anthony Towns was traded to the New York Knicks.

As the Thursday trade deadline approaches, the Timberwolves are under pressure to make a move to improve their roster before making their playoff push.

The Minnesota Timberwolves may engage in a significant transaction at this year’s trade deadline, parting ways with Julius Randle in pursuit of players that align more effectively with their scheme as they aim for a robust second half of the season.

Not very long ago, Portland Trail Blazers fans had to put up with an endless reconstruction.

Hope was fading, losses were increasing, and it was dragging. But all of a sudden, things changed. The Blazers began to win.

They defeated the Phoenix Suns in back-to-back games, winning eight of their last nine games. Just like that, a spark ignited within the fan base. Though their current season has been amazing, Portland supporters have their sights set on something greater: Cooper Flagg, the 17-year-old Duke phenom who is anticipated to be the first choice in the 2025 NBA Draft.

See What’s Popular Right Now! The recent upsurge in Portland has been remarkable. Their defense has been effective in the last nine games, as two teams have scored less than 100.

 

 

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; February 1, 2025; During the second half of the Utah Jazz’s game against the Orlando Magic at Delta Center, guard Collin Sexton (2) shouts for forward John Collins (20). Required Credit: Imagn Images/Chris Nicoll Several NBA teams at the other end of the rankings wait by their trash cans, hoping that their trash will be another general manager’s treasure while the numerous contenders and hopeful thinkers speculate about the cost of imports over the next days.

Undoubtedly, there seems to be some recyclable material in what these so-called rebuilding groups have to offer.

However, these kinds of trades may be challenging due to the league’s strict salary-cap regulations.

However, any team that thinks it’s already within arm’s reach of a conference finals position may find a serviceable backup big man, a forward with double figures who can come off the bench, and a seasoned guard with playoff experience appealing.

And there were perhaps 20 of them at the last count. Before the competition does, these glory-seekers ought to get in touch with these three sellers:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; January 1, 2024; During the second half at the Delta Center against the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz player Jordan Clarkson (00) reacts after grabbing a rebound to record a triple-double. Credits: USA TODAY Sports/Christopher Creveling The Jazz have plenty of prime-time players for a mediocre club.

The issue is that their general manager isn’t, and that takes precedence over a lot of innovative ideas.

Danny Ainge has done an excellent job of offloading star-caliber talent for a ton of draft selections and respectable role players thus far in his tenure.

The role players are simply becoming older, but the picks are still happening.

 

ESPN said on Sunday that the Sacramento Kings are completing a multi-team NBA trade that would send All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox to Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs.

Zach LaVine, a guard for the Chicago Bulls, will join the Kings as part of the deal.

After it became apparent that Fox, 27, who has one more year left on his deal, wasn’t committed to staying in Sacramento for the long haul, the Kings reportedly initiated trade negotiations for him last week.

Fox will join French great Wembanyama, who is averaging 24.6 points, 10.9 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and an incredible 4.0 blocks per game, at the Spurs, which became a popular destination.

Fox may improve a late-season push and serve as a foundation for the upcoming seasons.

This season, the Spurs added veterans to the youthful core led by Wembanyama. Fox has played in the NBA for eight seasons, all with Sacramento.

After missing the playoffs for 16 seasons, he persevered through five losing seasons with the Kings before they finally made it in 2022–2023, ending the NBA’s longest postseason drought.

Fox is second on the team in assists and third in rebounds this season, scoring a team-high 25.0 points per game.

Along with LaVine from the Bulls, the Kings will also acquire Sidy Cissoko, a 20-year-old Frenchman, from San Antonio.

According to The Athletic, the deal will also send Jordan McLaughlin to the Spurs and Kevin Huerter, Zach Collins, and Tre Jones to the Bulls.

Averaging 24.0 points per game and shooting 51.1 percent from the field, LaVine, a two-time All-Star, is having a successful season.

Cissoko, 20, has only played in 29 NBA games since the Spurs selected him with the 44th overall choice in the 2023 lottery.