the Portland Path Blazers They’re hanging on to a 19-19 file because the NBA commerce season teeters into excessive gear. The mixture of lofty ambitions and mediocre efficiency suggests the Blazers might be lively because the February 9 buying and selling deadline approaches. The Blazers have younger gamers, expertise, and even an expiring contract or two to benefit from as doable avenues for enchancment. They want dimension and protection, amongst different issues. Is it doable to get married subsequent month?
Whereas offers are totally doable, two elements present delicate velocity bumps in Portland’s quest to finish the deal. Each are monetary. That is normally the toughest a part of the NBA commerce puzzle for normal individuals to grasp, however each of those points are plain and easy.
The primary concern is our outdated pal the posh tax.
The Blazers fall roughly $67,000 beneath the tax threshold for 2022-23. In a league the place salaries are measured within the thousands and thousands, that is a really small margin. To Portland’s credit score they had been in a position to come so shut. They money in on each out there greenback with out going via tax territory. It additionally implies that they have no {dollars} left to spend except they need to cross the border into tax territory.
Doing so can have two penalties.
On the finish of the season, when all tax penalties are collected, the posh tax {dollars} collected from the offenders are divided between non-taxpaying groups. This normally quantities to some million {dollars}. If the Blazers receives a commission greater than they ship in a commerce, not solely will they must pay a penalty themselves, they’re going to lose out on that additional income. This price have to be factored into any consideration of offers within the coming months.
Getting into the posh tax additionally restarts the clock on the “repeated tax”. That is an extra penalty for groups that exceed the tax restrict in three out of 4 consecutive seasons. The Blazers paid taxes in 2018 and 2019, then slipped in 2020. They needed to be cautious to not cross the road in 2021, although, as a result of they might have had a repeater tax penalty. They succeeded in resetting the clock by posting two years in a row with out a violation.
This appears to go away them free and clear. Besides they simply signed Damian Lillard to an enormous four-season extension past this season. Assuming additionally they lengthen their Grammy Grant, they’re a assured tax bypass within the close to future. It is laborious to see how they’re going to keep away from that within the distant future, too, assuming Lillard stays with the crew.
We may provide you with situations by which the Blazers teeter beneath the tax threshold in 2026, however even that is not a certain factor. It is nearly unimaginable to search out any that hold it beneath that stage in 2024 or 2025. This offers the Blazers nice incentive to remain beneath the tax threshold in 2023. If they will keep away from paying taxes this 12 months, they’re giving themselves flexibility for the longer term. In the event that they cross the road, they’re probably having to remain beneath par in 2026 and 2027 to keep away from paying a fortune. With Lillard set to make $58.6 and $63.2 million over these two seasons, it is neither a beautiful nor a practical choice.
For these causes, any deal the Blazers pull via subsequent month might want to pay lower than they ship in, or at the very least drop useless. If not, Portland will want to verify the transfer lands them in a dispute clear sufficient to justify paying taxes — and probably reimposing taxes — down the street. With it laborious to go 19-19 and end as a Championship Contender in a month, it’s totally probably that the Blazers might be restricted within the quantity of wage they’re prepared to pocket for the remainder of this season.
Subsequent… issue two: contracts