Adam Silver: 2016 free agency will 'blow up Facebook and Instagram,' not just Twitter
The NBA is preparing for a wild summer. The league's salary cap, which has marginally increased season to season since the implementation of the current collective bargaining agreement prior to the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, is about to explode, and a free-agency class headlined by Oklahoma City Thunder star Kevin Durant is about to cash in like never before.
In an interview with USA TODAY's Jeff Zillgitt, Silver said the coming salary cap increase over the next few seasons is going to change the league in ways we can't yet predict:
Then he added this little nugget about a league that already has a massive following on social media:
To that end, Silver also said, "As crazy as Twitter was last summer, next summer we’ll blow up Facebook & Instagram" https://t.co/LG3GeJ1OEF
— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) February 9, 2016
The league's salary cap will make a gargantuan leap from $70 million this season to at least a record $89 million next season. The reason for such a sizable increase, and with more leaps to come, is because of the new, nine-year television deal the league inked with ESPN/ABC and Turner Sports. According to USA TODAY, it will inject $2.66 billion into the league annually starting next season.
And that will result in record paydays for the NBA's players, especially superstars such as Durant, who will become a free agent this summer and will be sought after by every team with the cap space available to fit him on their roster.
And this summer, a record number of teams will have that cap space.
Other star players such as LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Dwyane Wade either will be free agents or can become free agents this summer, along with others such as Luol Deng, Mike Conley, Rajon Rondo and Chandler Parsons.
So that sonic boom you hear come July will be the NBA's wild free agency period blowing up social media.