/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/35324352/lionel-hollins-intro-presser_7.0.jpg)
Billy King says the Nets want to be "financially responsible." in free agency and some have suggested an era of frugality, at least in Prokhorovian terms. But as his latest hire, Lionel Hollins, noted Monday, "Mikhail Prokhorov has the resources and he's very competitive and wants to win. So he will use those resources for the right players so that we have the opportunity to win."
So, as Tim Bontemps tweeted out Monday night, the Nets are a week into free agency and continuing to spend.
Once Bogdanovic becomes official on July 10, the Nets will have about $92.5 million in payroll committed to 11 players.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 8, 2014
With Markel Brown also likely to be signed, the Nets will have three roster spots to fill with a payroll of about $93 million.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 8, 2014
Factor in luxury taxes, and the Nets total salary commitments at the moment stand at just under $123 million by my calculations.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 8, 2014
That's without Paul Pierce, who's likely to command somewhere north of $6 million.
Those numbers of course are flexible and not final. They could reduce them with a trade of Marcus Thornton for Jarrett Jack, (and Bontemps suggests in another tweet Sergey Karasev?), or one that sends Paul Pierce away in a sign-and-trade. If Pierce signs elsewhere, of course, the numbers aren't likely to get much higher. And how would all that affect Kevin Garnett?
Still, if things keep going in the direction they appear to be headed, the Nets will once again have a $100 million payroll, essentially the same as last year's $102 million tally, significant luxury taxes ... and more.
Ask me again on Aug. 1. We'll have a better idea then. RT @aesop_alain any chance of avoiding the repeater tax?
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) July 8, 2014