With teams spending more than expected this offseason due to the cap spike from $70 million to more than $94 million, the NBA has lowered its cap projection for 17-18 from $107 million to $102 million.
The average player salary should leap from $6 million in 15-16 to about $8 million in 16-17, per league sources.
There should be far less NBA-wide cap space next season, which will adversely impact the 2017 class.