Has a team ever tried as hard as Cleveland currently is to BUY a championship?

[JerrySeinfeld]

LeBron, Irving, and Love all getting the max
Tristan Thompson is now making 17M a year.
Varejao and Shumpert making 10M a year each
JR and Mozgov at 5M a year each
Mo Williams getting like half the MLE, 2M for the year
Rest of the guys are vet min or near it

Has a team ever had a payroll like this?

[RedBlackAttack]

LeBron, Irving, and Love all getting the max
Tristan Thompson is now making 17M a year.
Varejao and Shumpert making 10M a year each
JR and Mozgov at 5M a year each
Mo Williams getting like half the MLE, 2M for the year
Rest of the guys are vet min or near it

Has a team ever had a payroll like this?

The 2012-13 Nets actually had a higher payroll.

[JerrySeinfeld]

The 2012-13 Nets actually had a higher payroll.

No fkn way... really? I didn't think they paid up as much outside of their big 3, since CLE basically has a big 4 with two other dudes getting 10M a year + two others adding up for 10M

Holy shit if thats true then that team was a complete and utter failure

[All Net]

The 2012-13 Nets actually had a higher payroll.

Which they will be paying for it for years to come

[I<3NBA]

OP has been living under a rock

[JerrySeinfeld]

OP has been living under a rock

I knew the Nets would come up, just didn't think they actually came close to what CLE has paid this year now that Thompson is getting all that money

[ralph_i_el]

It's almost like the salary cap keeps going up!

[RedBlackAttack]

It was actually the 2013-14 Nets, for the record.

Though the tax won't be calculated until the end of the season, and the Cavs have only 14 guaranteed contracts, they are now in line to pay in excess of $60 million in luxury tax, which would be the second highest on record.

Including salaries and tax, the Cavs are likely to spend more than $170 million on this season's roster, the second-highest number in league history behind the 2013-14 Brooklyn Nets. The Nets spent $197 million that season, including a record $90.5 million in tax.

http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13...2-million-deal

Huge payrolls don't always equal success. Among the highest numbers in league history are not just the 2014 Nets, but the 2012 Lakers.

This is just a precursor to next year when things are really going to blow up. The Cavs will likely still have the highest payroll next year, but the rest of the league will start catching up quickly.

Oklahoma City, for example, may surpass the Cavs if they want to keep Durant and Westbrook longterm. It also doesn't help that Enes Kanter is going to be paid $17 million a year.

Golden State is another... they already have two max players and Steph Curry, Harrison Barnes and the rest of their roster will be looking for extensions next year.

This is where the league is going, guys.

[Derka]

Every team is trying to buy a championship. Some are just better at it than others.

[Sarcastic]

I'm just glad that Gilbert will have to pay so much in tax, after he was one of the owners that fought so hard for the punitive CBA in the last negotiations.

[Noyze]

Yeah didn't the Nets sign Kris Humphies for like 13-15 mil a year off the bench that year?

[RedBlackAttack]

Yeah didn't the Nets sign Kris Humphies for like 13-15 mil a year off the bench that year?

Joe Johnson - $21.5 million
Deron Williams - $18.5 million
Paul Pierce - $15.3 million
Brooke Lopez - $14.7 million
Kevin Garnett - $12.4 million

etc.

Humphries was gone by the time they set the tax record. But yeah... he also got a crazy contract a couple years prior.

[Derka]

Yeah didn't the Nets sign Kris Humphies for like 13-15 mil a year off the bench that year?

Crash and Hump were the highest paid players on our team during Stevens' first year coaching...both guys were on Nets contracts.

[Vaniiiia]

Has there ever been a poster try as hard to defend his favorite team than RBA?



I like the dude but jesus. Mention anything that could possibly be taken negatively about the Cavs and the dude posts graphs on graphs on graphs.

Is is that serious?

[oh the horror]

Which they will be paying for it for years to come

Yeah, how Billy King still has that job is amazing to me.