Below is the first contribution from new Sports Agent Blog contributor Christian A. Carter. Carter is a 2nd Year, MBA Candidate at the College of William & Mary and graduate of Seton Hill University where he served as Captain of the Football Team and SAAC President. Carter is also the curator of “Carter’s Call” a new sports lifestyle blog. For more information on Christian, please visit carterscall.com, you can follow Christian @carters_call on Twitter & Instagram.
As the summer comes to a close and the start of NBA training camps quickly approaches, we take a look back at the spectacle that is the NBA Free Agency.
Per an article by Liz Mullen, this summer NBA teams spent $2.7 Billion on 118 free agent contracts, according to data provided by the NBPA. This a substantial decrease (42.6%) from last summer when teams spent $4.7 Billion on 261 free agent contracts. If you include rookie contracts into the equation; NBA teams spent a total of $3.2 Billion on 148 player contracts this summer, comparable to $5.1 Billion on 290 player contracts (37.3% decrease) last summer.
The dip in total dollars spent on player contracts this summer has been attributed to a much smaller increase in the NBA’s salary cap than originally projected, according to industry sources. In 2016, the salary cap spiked to $94.14 Million, up from $70 Million the previous year (34.5% increase). However in 2017, the salary cap only increased to $99.09 Million (5.3% increase) about $3 Million less than projected.
“Teams had less money available to spend because the cap was lower than the NBA originally projected…This was largely due to how aggressively teams spent during free agency in 2016.” said Real GM Executive Editor Christopher Reina.
Note: 11 major Agencies made up $2.3 Billion in veteran contract negotiations. This group includes;
Priority Sports & Entertainment: 215.5 Million (Mark Bartelstein)
CAA: $203.3 (Jeff Austin)
F.A.M.E: $108.3 Million (David Falk)
Wasserman: $83 Million; (Greg Lawrence)
Excel Sports Management: $48.7 Million (Jeff Schwartz)
(According to RealGM.com)