The Ringer’s Haley O’Shaughnessy explored the news on June 22 that the league’s projected salary cap came in under what previous experts thought:
The NBA’s projected revenue dropped due to the short playoffs, and because of that and other reasons, the 2018 salary cap is now projected to be $99 million, about $2 million lower than its April projection of $101 million.
Some teams, O’Shaughnessy identifies, are mainly losers of this situation.
There’s the Spurs, who are not overflowing with cap. The Celtics, who are trying to maneuver a deal for Gordon Hayward.