Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Remember all those salary dumps teams did at the trade deadline, as they desperately tried to create enough cap room to lure LeBron James and other marquee free agents to their teams this summer? It turns out they probably weren't necessary.
Why? David Stern just announced that the estimated cap level for next season is $56.1 million, which is significantly higher than the $50-53 million figure projected most of the season. That means the Knicks probably would have had room for two max free agents even before giving away two potential lottery picks and Jordan Hill to the Rockets just to get Jared Jeffries' long-term deal off the books. Nice going, guys.
It is a bit odd that the cap is coming in so high, though. Sure, Stern said all season that the league was doing better than expected, but that much better? Here's my conspiracy theory: Stern and the other members of the Board of Governors went in and tweaked the formula that determines the value of the cap so that teams will have more room to make moves this summer. What better way to drum up even more interest for an overcovered story!
Not that any of this matters, though. The Wizards are getting LeBron James, because Miss Cleo says so.
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