Cap smoothing 101: How the NBA can prevent another 2016-like spike with a new television deal looming

The NBA is going to have to take steps to prevent a repeat of 2016 if the cap truly rises to $171 million

The NBA's national television deal is set to expire after the 2024-25 season, and for months, all signs have pointed to a significantly bigger deal looming afterward. CNBC's Jabari Young reported in March that the NBA is seeking $75 billion in a new deal -- more than tripling the $24 billion this current deal will pay -- and on Sunday, Forbes' Morten Jensen reported that one league source believes a $171 million salary cap could be possible. The cap is currently set at $112.4 million, meaning it could rise by over 52% in the coming years.  "There was going to be no smoothing of the owners' profits at all," Roberts said in an interview with SB Nation's Paul Flannery. "They were going to enjoy real money that reflected where we were financially as a game. Why in the world would players pretend that the game was not making as much money and therefore have smaller contracts?

Diligent NBA fans will remember a very similar scenario taking place after the last deal was signed. Virtually, the entire league had cap space in 2016 thanks to that spike, and among other notable results, the Golden State Warriors used that flexibility to sign Kevin Durant after a 73-win season. This is obviously an outcome that the NBA would prefer not to repeat. So how can the league avoid it? Get ready to hear the words "cap smoothing" a lot over the next few years.  "It was an absurd suggestion, I thought personally. But what we did to make sure it wasn't just Michele's instinct was hire two separate economists to tell us whether this was something that was going to be of value to our players in the long run.

"Independent of each other and not knowing what either of us felt, they both came almost saying, 'Are you kidding? Why would you do this?'