Committed salary for 2013/14: $22,497,415 (
view full forecast)
Projected cap space: At most, $35,504,580, but not really.
If Atlanta renounce (or lose)
Josh Smith, and renounce their remaining free agents (
Kyle Korver,
Devin Harris,
Zaza Pachulia,
Johan Petro,
Ivan Johnson,
Jeff Teague,
Dahntay Jones,
Hilton Armstrong,
Erick Dampier,
Etan Thomas,
Randolph Morris and
Anthony Tolliver), waive
DeShawn Stevenson ($2,240,450, fully unguaranteed with no guarantee date),
Shelvin Mack ($884,293, fully unguaranteed with no guarantee date) and
Mike Scott ($788,872, fully unguaranteed until August 15th, thereafter $100,000 guaranteed) and sell or renounce their first round draft picks (#17 and #18, cap holds of $1,348,200 and $1,280,800), they will have a cap number of $22,995,420 (the committed salary plus nine minimum salary roster charges of $490,180 for having less than twelve things on the cap).
(If you want to get really absurd, they could even amnesty Al Horford. Hypotheticals are fun.)
This is, however, a maximum amount. And it's not a realistic one. Smith's cap hold will be equal to the maximum amount for a nine year veteran, and, while this amount will not be known until the new salary cap figure is determined, a slight increase in the cap will mean a slight increase in the $16,402,500 nine year veteran maximum amount that this year's cap produced. So unless he is renounced, or until he is signed elsewhere, that's a $16.5 million cap hold cutting into that $35.5 million figure. The same is true of Teague's $6,082,692 cap hold, and the negligible amounts saved by trading the picks, not giving Johnson his $1,250,854 qualifying offer, and waiving Scott, are also not likely to happen. In a scenario where they are all retained, then, Atlanta's cap situation then looks like this:
Josh Smith: $16,500,000 (circa, cap hold)
Al Horford: $12,000,000
Jeff Teague: $6,082,692 (cap hold)
Lou Williams: $5,225,000
#17 pick): $1,348,200
#18 pick: $1,280,800
Ivan Johnson: $1,250,854 (cap hold & qualifying offer)
John Jenkins: $1,258,800
Mike Scott: $788,872
Jeremy Tyler: $100,000 (waived)
Roster charge (rookie minimum cap hold for not having 12 things on the cap, one for each number under - Tyler doesn't count): $490,180
Roster charge: $490,180
Roster charge: $490,180
Total: $47,305,758 = $11,194,242 in cap room
Even this scenario assumes the renouncements of Korver and Pachulia, quality role players who won't be easily replaced. Yet such is the reality of the gamble of cap space. Atlanta can and likely will have eight figures worth of cap space, and they could have an awful lot more than that should Smith move on. But it's a choice.
(Note: "things on the cap" constitute players under contract, free agents not under contract who have cap holds, and the cap holds of unsigned first round picks. Unsigned second round picks do not have cap holds and thus do not count for anything, and nor do waived players.)
