Chicago Bulls player Jimmy Butler stands to make millions more by turning down a $90 million offer
Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Butler is expected to turn down a $90 million max contract offer from the Bulls in order to position himself for more money in the long term.
In October, the NBA reached a new TV deal with TNT and ESPN. NBA teams will split $2.66 billion per year under the new deal, up $930 million under the old one.
As a result, the NBA salary cap is going to jump from $67 million in 2015-16 to $89 million in 2016-17, and only go up from there. If Butler signs, for example, a two-year deal with a team this summer, he'll be a free agent again in 2017 and have a chance to sign a long-term deal under the new salary cap.
While there are obviously risks in signing a short-term deal (injury, declining play, etc.) the reward could be massive. Butler's current max contract starts at 25% of the 2015-16 salary cap, which works out to around $17 million. By 2017, his max contract will start at around $27 million.
While Butler can only sign a five-year, $90 million contract now, in three years he could potentially sign a five-year deal for $190 million, Wojnarowski reports.
This wouldn't be the first time Butler has bet on himself in hopes of winning big. During the exclusive contract negotiations window in October, he reportedly turned down the Bulls' contract extension offer of four years and $44 million - which at the time looked like a fair price for a player who had only just finished his first full year as a starter and shot below 40 percent from the field, 28 percent from behind the arc, and averaged only 13 points per game.
Butler, however, believed he was worth more and proved it. He went on to have the best season of his career by far, finishing with 20 points per game and shooting 46 percent form the field and nearly 38 percent from the three-point line, as well as being named to the All-Star team for the first time.