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2015 NBA Free Agency: The 2015-16 salary cap is officially set at $70 million

It's even higher than we'd been told! Also, the Knicks can officially sign guys now.

By MattRW
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

A little more than a week ago, I told you all that we could expect the salary cap to be about $69 million. Well, amidst all the DeAndre Jordan ridiculousness yesterday, a WOJBOMB was dropped:

The free agency moratorium ended last night at midnight, so the NBA needed to get the official number out before contracts could be signed. The cap was actually projected at $67.1 million, so I'd imagine teams were operating at that number. Therefore, the Knicks have $3 million more to spend than they thought. What does that mean for them?

Below, you'll see the team's payroll, updated with everyone they have agreements with already. The salary numbers for Lopez, Afflalo, Williams, and O'Quinn are based on what their contracts were reported as, assuming each player will get yearly 4.5% raises, which is the max allowed under the CBA. Let's take a look!

2015 payroll

So assuming the Knicks allow Langston Galloway and Ricky Ledo's contracts to become guaranteed (both of which I would bet on), they have $2.75 million in cap space. Of course, once they sign someone, that salary will replace the empty spot hold, so in reality New York has $3.28 million to spend. They also have the room exception, which is worth $2.81 million. However, they can't combine cap space with the exception: they can give out one contract worth $3.28 million and one worth $2.81 million if they want, but they can't sign someone to contract worth $6.09 million.

The Knicks have finished handing out all of their big contracts, but there are still 4 spots open. With this news, they can spend a bit extra money on Remaining Capspaceman if he wants it.

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