Cap this year: $101.9 million Expected Cap in 2019-20: $109 million Expected Cap in 2020-21: $118 million For some reason in the NBA the year you sign the contract for max ones can matter greatly because it's based off a percentage of the cap that year. A few years ago when the cap spiked you have players not on a max contract like Evan Turner making a similar amount to Klay Thompson who is on a max contract. This is something I wish the NBA would change to where if you are a max player it is always the same percentage of the cap. This might also discourage teams from giving so many players max contracts. For example right now Dame makes almost $28 million whereas Kawhi Leonard only makes $23 million despite having one more year of service. It's even more skewed if you compare say Chris Paul's new contract to Jimmy Butler.
With max contracts that limit how much they can make, it would be stupid in my opinion for someone like Dame to not take it. Can you imagine how much some of these guys would make if there wasn't a cap on their earnings? Brady gets all this credit for taking less but he just kept allowing the Patriots to defer money to the future. They still had/have to pay him for doing that. The NFL is different with signing bonuses and non-guaranteed contracts. Duncan and Nowitzki both did it when older, not in their prime.
They should tell him that he has the supermax if he wants it, and ask him if h's willing to take less
Not only that, the new owner is going to be the poorest owner in the league AND move the team to Las Vegas AND Seattle.
Part of me hopes he takes it in full and they contend. Its stupid players take less, basically cheating. 5 all-star could sign for the minimum. Another part of me would be very concerned from the Blazers end it could be a terrible contract Dame's last few years. But I think you still pay it.
You have to decide whether you're rewarding regular season or playoff success, and if one without the other (that can obviously only go one direction, logically) has enough financial impact on the franchise to warrant that big of a contract. Ideally, a Super Max player will be synonymous with playoff success, but if you hand it out before said success, you're banking on the rest of the team developing around him enough to get there. Which is a big risk in itself, considering you just financially handicapped the future.
