The bill has come due for the Cavaliers' championship and it is quite a tab. Owner Dan Gilbert owes a staggering $54 million in luxury taxes for last season, ESPN reported and the Beacon Journal confirmed. It comprises nearly half of the $117 million teams will pay out in luxury taxes, according to ESPN.
Gilbert and his partners spent roughly $160 million in payroll and taxes to deliver Cleveland the city's first championship in 52 years.
In all, seven teams paid the luxury tax. The next-closest to the Cavs was the Los Angeles Clippers at $19.9 million.
The Cavs are fighting to keep their championship roster intact without any cap space. The league set next season's salary cap at $94.1 million and the tax threshold at $113.3 million. The Cavs will commit about $100 million just to LeBron James, Kevin Love, Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Iman Shumpert and Channing Frye. They are expected to be a taxpayer again while still trying to find a way to retain shooting guard J.R. Smith.
They will soon lose restricted free agent Matthew Dellavedova to the Milwaukee Bucks. Dellavedova agreed to a four-year, $38 million offer sheet that the Cavs do not intend to match. Now the fear is Smith, who took a pay cut last season when he ultimately signed for less than the option year he declined, will likewise price himself out of the Cavs' market.
Two notable agreements comparable to deals Smith could command are Joe Johnson and Arron Afflalo. Johnson agreed to a two-year, $22 million deal with the Utah Jazz, and Afflalo agreed to a two-year, $25 million deal with the Sacramento Kings. It is believed the Cavs would be comfortable signing Smith to a similar deal.
The remaining five tax paying teams from last season, according to ESPN: Golden State Warriors ($14.8 million), Oklahoma City Thunder ($14.5 million), San Antonio Spurs ($4.9 million), Houston Rockets ($4.9 million) and Chicago Bulls ($4.2 million). The other 23 teams that did not pay the tax will each receive $2.5 million, while the rest will be used for revenue sharing.
