In 2016, the NBA saw the salary cap spike from $70 million to $94.1 million as new TV rights deals kicked in. That caused a scenario where the 2016 free agent class received contracts that were out of balance with the rest of the league.
With the NBA set to sign new media rights deals in 2025, another cap spike was looming. In order to avoid another spike, the NBA and NBPA have agreed to cap smoothing in the new CBA.
The smoothing agreement will see cap increases limited to 10%, while pushing any additional percentage increase into subsequent years. By smoothing out the increases, that should provide more balance to free agent classes over multiple years.
