One Big Question For The Dallas Mavericks: Will Luka Doncic’s Contract Remain a Bargain When the NBA Returns?
With the NBA season suspended, one of the biggest questions the league faces is how the season suspension will affect the salary cap and the CBA moving forward. SI NBA writer Rohan Nadkarni breaks down Doncic's contract and whether it will still be a bargain when the NBA does inevitably resume?
Read the full transcript below:
Madelyn Burke: Much remains up in the air as the NBA season remains on pause but one of the biggest questions as the league hopes to return to the court is how the season suspension will affect the salary cap and the CBA moving forward. Joining me now is SI NBA writer Rohan Nadkarni, and Rohan, when you look at a team like the Mavericks, who have Luka Doncic, a 21-year-old who's been in MVP conversations, still on his rookie deal: Do you think Doncic's contract will still be a bargain when the NBA does inevitably resume?
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Rohan Nadkarni: So this, to me Maddie, is one of the more interesting subplots in terms of what's going to happen when the NBA returns: what is going to happen to the salary caps? Now, obviously, revenues are going to drop massively. We're talking billions of dollars worth of revenue being lost. In somewhat of a normal scenario, if there was less revenue, that would mean the salary cap would be dropping. Obviously, the league is looking into solutions to make sure that there's not going to be like a $50 million drop in the salary cap next season. What does that mean for the Mavericks?
So Luka Doncic has two years left on his deal after this one. He maxes out around $10.2 million two years from now. In a normal situation, we saw the Warriors do this, right? Stephen Curry was playing on a very below-market contract. That's how they're able to sign a guy like Kevin Durant, bringing all these veteran pieces. The Mavericks, in a normal world, would like to have done something like that. Use the fact that Luka Doncic is making so little money to sign other guys. Yet, now we're looking at what if there's just no money for them to use to put guys around?
Madelyn Burke: Well, luckily for them, they do have a guy as talented as Luka Doncic on the roster. Rohan Nadkarni, thanks so much for the time.
For more basketball from SI:
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/05/18/best-nba-player-alive-1980s
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/05/08/cba-stalled-out-what-it-means-for-the-nba
https://www.si.com/nba/2020/05/14/michael-jordan-chicago-pickup-basketball-1994
