How a strained salary cap could help the Memphis Grizzlies

Between this year’s China controversy and the season hiatus caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, many experts agree that the 2020-2021 salary cap could take a hit. Would this actually be beneficial to the Memphis Grizzlies?

If one thing is for sure, it’s that this season will definitely go into the NBA history books.

It seems so infinitesimal now, but it’s important to remember that this whole season began with the NBA, and more specifically the Houston Rockets, getting into some…let’s say hot water…with China after Daryl Morey’s controversial tweet.

Then, more recently, the NBA made a historic move as they suspended the rest of the 2019-2020 season indefinitely over concerns about the COVID-19 virus. If this does result in fewer games, this would be the NBA’s first non-lockout shortened season in history.

And, an often overlooked part of all of this, is how these events will impact the NBA’s salary cap for future seasons.

Back in 2018, the league announced that it projected the following two seasons (at that time the 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 seasons) salary caps to be set at $109 million and $118 million respectively.

Then, after the China controversy, the figure was set to drop to $113 million, and then was readjusted to sit at $115 million.

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Following the announcement of the suspension, Ben Rohrbach reported on Yahoo! Sports that the figure could drop anywhere from $4.6 million to $8.3 million after the suspension took its toll on the league, which is set to lose upwards of $500 million if the regular season is cancelled. If this number is accurate, and with the unpredictability of the times we’re in right now it isn’t a stretch to say it’s not, that would set the 2020-2021 salary cap around $110 million.

According to that report, players and owners alike would be very hesitant to see a decrease in salary cap space from this year to the next, and the feeling is that it’d be better to have two smaller caps over the next two seasons, than to have one much smaller cap next season and then see a giant jump in 2021-2022.

With all of this still very much up in the air, many teams and players are worrying about their future. But here’s an interesting thought: could this salary cap reduction actually help the Memphis Grizzlies?

The Grizzlies made a few key moves at the deadline this season–acquiring Gorgui Dieng and Justise Winslow among others–and these moves have gone a long ways towards solidifying Memphis’ rotation.

As far as potential free agents over these next two seasons, the ones available either wouldn’t be interested in going to a rebuilding team like Memphis, or would simply provide just a few minutes deep in the rotation. None of them appear to be key assets for the Grizzlies future, they seem to already have all of those.

The other aspect that a decrease in salary cap would impact would be resigning current talent, but Memphis took care of most of that before the trade deadline. The only players that are on the final years of their contracts with Memphis (not including John Konchar and Yuta Watanabe who are on two-way deals) are Josh Jackson, who would likely sign a reduced deal for the team that showed a lot of loyalty towards him, and De’Anthony Melton, who could be seeing a reduced role when Winslow makes his way to the lineup anyways.

Following that season, the only contract that Memphis would have to even consider extending is Marko Gudric, who has been fairly hit-or-miss this season. Even if Memphis were to lose some of these players, their core group of Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, and Jaren Jackson Jr.–along with the supporting cast of Tyus Jones, Jonas Valanciunas, and Dillon Brooks–will still be intact.

However, other teams, especially teams that Memphis is in close contention with, won’t be in the same situation. Many teams, particularly in the Western Conference, were relying on these next two years of free agents to really bolster their team. Because of the salary cap hit, theses teams could be left with a team that has been set back another year in a rebuild while the Grizzlies could still realistically advance a year.

There’s also the idea that some teams were intentionally leaving spots slightly open to attract big free agents over the next two years, specifically in the case of the pursuit of Giannis Antetokounmpo. Obviously the Milwaukee Bucks are at the top of any possible landing destinations, but there have been reports and rumors that teams like the Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, and Golden State Warriors have all been keeping spots open for him. If that’s the case, Memphis could see an advantage when it comes to going against those teams as they focused on building their roster in the present, not the future.

dark. Next. Memphis Grizzlies: What the players have been doing during the hiatus

Whatever the outcome of the NBA’s wild 2019-2020 season will be, it’s undeniable that it will leave a lasting impact on the history of the league. Hopefully, at the very least for the Grizzlies, it will be at least a mildly beneficial one.

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