NBA announces salary cap for 2018-19 season: 101.8 mln

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The NBA on Saturday announced the salary cap for next season: 101.8 million US dollars, an increase of 2.7 percent, reported ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

The minimum team salary is 90 percent of the salary cap and will be around 51.68 million dollars. The luxury tax line is 123 million dollars.

The league also announced other standards involving salaries: 8.6 million dollars for on-Tax Mid-level, 5.3 million for Tax-payers mid-level, 4.4 million for Room Mid-Level and 3.4 million for Bi-annual exception.

LeBron James belongs to the top class of NBA's maximum salary. /VCG Photo

According to NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), all teams can reach out to free agents on the market after July 1 to negotiate deals, but are not allowed to sign any contract until July 7.

So far, 13 teams have total salaries that are above the cap and two of them (the Washington Wizards and the Toronto Raptors) will need to pay a luxury tax based on the current number of their payrolls. But it’s just the beginning, a lot of things are still expected to change.

The new salary cap has also determined the starting number of maximum salaries players can enjoy. Based on how many years a player has been in the league, there are three classes of maximum salaries.

DeMarcus Cousins belongs to the second class of NBA's maximum salary. /VCG Photo

The top-class maximum salary starts at 35 percent of the salary cap for the first year of the contract for those who have played for at least a decade in the league, which is about 35.65 million dollars. LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Chris Paul all belong in this group.

Second class starts with 30 percent of salary cap for the first year of the contract for those who have played for seven to 10 years in the league, which is around 30.56 million dollars. Paul George and DeMarcus Cousins belong to this class.

Third class starts with 25 percent of salary cap for the first year of the contract for those who have played for zero to six years in the league, which is around 25.46 million dollars. Usually young players that have shown potential to be super stars will get such a contract from their teams. Nikola Jokic from the Denver Nuggets was one example.