Despite the $1.5 billion in financial losses last season, the NBA expected the salary cap for the coming 2020-21 campaign to remain around $109 million instead of dropping, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.

"The teams I've talked to have said the cap will be no lower than $109 million. That's what they've been assured. It could be $111 million," said Marks on The Lowe Post podcast.

If the salary cap ends at $109 million, the luxury tax line and the "apron" (the number that a team's total salary can never exceed) will be $132.6 and $138.9 million respectively.

"One thing that is unanimous is that teams are lobbying for the tax level to come in at $139M and apron at $145M. If the tax stays flat at $132.7M, FA and the trade market essentially will become frozen. A flat tax would only benefit the teams with cap space," posted Marks on Twitter.

The numbers game being boring, it stirs the blood of every general manager (perhaps team owner as well) of the league. Let's take the Golden State Warriors as an example because every dollar the team may spend will matter.

In spite of the series of trades and signings last season to avoid the "super luxury tax," Golden State's payroll will still be bigger than any other team in the new season. Meanwhile, they still have the second-overall draft pick and a $17.2-million trade exception to sign players.

If Golden State doesn't use the second-overall pick or any of the exception, their total salary will be $148.9 million plus $33 million of tax.

If they select a rookie and sign him, the two numbers will be $157.6 and $63.8 million respectively.

If they send the draft pick away and spend all of the trade exception, the tax will be $100 million.

Then comes the scariest part: If Golden State signs both a rookie, which they select with the draft pick, and spend all of the trade exception, their total salary will reach $174.8 million accompanied by $147 million in taxes.

According to Forbes, Joe Lacob, owner of team, has a net worth of $1.2 billion. Is he willing to spend over $300 million on his team when their chances of winning the NBA championship next season is slim, to say the best?

The good news for Golden State is that Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are all expected to come back healthy in the 2020-21 season. The three made their core structure in 2015 and 2016 when Golden State made the NBA Finals twice and won one title.

Nonetheless, Curry who is turning 33 years old next March, showed some disturbing signs of growing vulnerable to injuries in the past two seasons. Thompson tore his ACL last year, the second-worst injury that can happen to a basketball player. What will that do to his moves both offensively and defensively? Moreover, there's Green who will have to face way bigger opponents than him – Anthony Davis, Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic – in the Western Conference, not to mention Greens toxic offensive influence.

Sure there's Andrew Wiggins who has historic talents, yet kept disappointing everyone who expected him to cash in those talents on the court. As for others in the team, let's just say they would not have been in Golden State back in 2015 or 2016.

Is there any way for them to improve their lineup via trades or drafting? Let's start with the $17.2-million exception. With that money, Golden State can discuss business with guys like Rudy Gay, Kelly Oubre Jr., Kelly Olynyk or Dennis Schroder. Are any of them good enough to turn the team into a champion candidate?

The same can be said for the draft pick. The most popular names in the pool are: Anthony Edwards, James Wiseman and LaMelo Ball. None of them look anything like Zion Williamson or Ja Morant, the kind of young blood that both works immediately on the floor and assures you future possibilities. So is it really worth paying another $30 million in taxes for any of the three?

There is also the way of making trades. Multiple teams are looking at the No. 2 pick in Golden State's hands and they may also have someone that can interest Golden State. For example, the New York Knicks, their No. 8 pick and Mitchell Robinson? Moreover, there are also several names constantly being mentioned in the headlines: Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards, Jrue Holiday of the New Orleans Pelicans, and Paul George of the Los Angeles Clippers.

However, don't be surprised if no big deal happens – it's hard to make a move under this economy.

Despite the hardships mentioned above, Golden State is not desperate. The team still has a well-adjusted system: a 25-year-old guy who has more than enough potential to explore, and valuable assets that many teams secretly want. The team just needs to be patient and careful with every one of their moves in the next a few months.