Future NBA TV Deal Already Making Its Impact Felt

By Court Zierk @courtzierk on January 14, 2015

Wu-Tang Clan once wisely and fortuitously stated that “cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M, get the money, dolla dolla bills y’all”. NBA GMs and owners have lived by this credo for years. With certain notable exceptions, most basketball decisions are made with the bottom line on the ledger sheet squarely in mind. If that translates into a winning franchise, it is considered an added bonus.

Typically, this has led to extremely frugal behavior by NBA owners throughout the course of a season in terms of their willingness to make roster moves. Sure, there is always the flurry of activity that immediately precedes the trade deadline, but outside of that, rosters remain mostly static, and the offseason is viewed as the preferred venue to make roster improvements.

This season, with about a month remaining before the trade deadline, we have already seen an unprecedented amount of player movement. Many people have attributed this to the fact that the race for the Larry O’Brien trophy is so wide open this season, and to a certain extent I believe that is true. It can be argued that as many as 12 teams have at least a remote chance at being a realistic contender.

But, this isn’t the first time that the title has been up for grabs for so many teams, so this can’t entirely explain the massive amount of activity we have seen. So what else is there? What other factors have led even the most thrifty of NBA execs — Sam Presti — to become so extravagantly willing to usher their team into the unchartered waters of the luxury tax?

Well, I can think of one thing that I believe explains it all — the new NBA TV deal. In case you’ve been hiding under a rock, or if you have just been so absorbed with the NFL that you may have missed it, the NBA recently agreed upon terms of a massive TV deal with ESPN and Turner Broadcasting that will trigger the influx of an unprecedented amount of money into the NBA’s collective pockets. It basically amounts to 180 percent increase of total revenue beginning with the 2016-2017 season.

This essentially means each team’s salary cap and max contract levels will exponentially increase. What does that have to do with this season? Well, put yourself in the shoes of someone running an NBA team. Or better yet, equate it to your own life. Let’s assume for a moment that you were guaranteed to get a 180 percent raise in just over a year. Wouldn’t you be much more willing to take on additional debt or expenses now with the understanding you would be able to pay it back in short order?

That same principle holds true for NBA execs.

Take for example the aforementioned Sam Presti, Executive Vice President and GM for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Not one time in his seven years in charge of basketball operations, has his team entered the luxury tax threshold, although they were apparently willing to do so with the low-ball offer they made to James Harden. Yet, this season he decided to take a chance on the embattled and divisive Dion Waiters, sending only a protected first-round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange.

Sure, there is the very believable theory that the move was only made to allow Reggie Jackson to walk when he becomes a restricted free agent after this season, but I think it also demonstrates the boldness that executives are now willing to show with the knowledge they can quickly recoup any mistakes down the line.

Other execs, most notably the Boston Celtics’ Danny Ainge, are taking full advantage of this inflated brashness to accelerate their rebuilding process. Over the past few weeks, Ainge has secured the rights to several additional draft picks to add to his stockpile of 10 likely first-round picks over the next five drafts. The Celtics are also poised to have 24 total picks over the next five years.

He did this by moving players of various ability to teams that all consider themselves contenders. The Memphis Grizzlies added Jeff Green to bolster their roster, and in the process gave up several future draft picks, putting all their chips on the table for this season. The Phoenix Suns added Brandan Wright and his $5 million salary, bringing them slightly above the cap. The Dallas Mavericks added Rajon Rondo, even knowing he may be no more than a rental.

The Cavaliers basically mortgaged their future by sending away every asset they had available to them to obtain J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. I have to think that Dan Gilbert isn’t as willing to make those very risky acquisitions if he doesn’t think he can just throw more money at the problem in 2016.

All of these moves could be easily attributable to the fact that the title race appears completely up for grabs, but  I don’t think they happen if owners weren’t emboldened by the knowledge that an exorbitant amount of money was coming their way in a year.

It has been speculated that since so many moves have already occurred, that we will see a reduced amount of activity at the deadline, but I actually don’t think that will be the case. There are still teams such as the Denver Nuggets, who have made several moves already, that have additional assets to move in Arron Afflalo and Wilson Chandler.

The Brooklyn Nets are desperately trying to move Brook Lopez and Deron Williams. Boston probably isn’t done with their fire sale. The Minnesota Timberwolves will try to move Thaddeus Young, Chase Budinger and maybe Nikola Pekovic. I wouldn’t be shocked if the Philadelphia 76ers try to move Michael Carter-Williams and/or Tony Wroten. The bottom line is, I think there are still plenty of moves to be made, and there are even more emboldened owners willing to take those risks.

While this has made for one of the most intriguing NBA seasons in my lifetime, it will probably make free agency next summer even more fascinating. Players such as Goran Dragic,  Draymond Green and Greg Monroe will most definitely get max-money thrown their direction, but they may not be willing to take on long-term contracts with the impending increase in salary cap approaching. Who will be willing to take on players like these on one-year contracts? Who concedes and accepts a max-deal now knowing the following season a max-deal could be worth exponentially more? All of these questions will make for an incredibly entertaining summer.

And the summer after that, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard and potentially LeBron James will all be unrestricted free agents. How much money gets thrown at these guys will be disturbingly intriguing.

It’s amazing what money can do. Maybe the Wu-Tang Clan weren’t explicitly thinking about the NBA when they wrote “C.R.E.A.M.,” but a more apt song couldn’t have been written describing the impact of the new TV deal.

Court Zierk is a Columnist for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @CourtZierk, “Like” him on Facebook or add him on Google.