This is not Clipper-related at all, and I do not typically write about the Lakers or Nets, but this is a post about the first examples of teams going deep into the luxury tax under the new CBA, which will take effect during the 2013/14 season. For those who are curious, the Heat weren't included because they will be skimming the surface of the Luxury Tax, with only about $10M in taxes. Everything you see here is based on my understanding of the Larry Coon CBA FAQ.

As usual, I will show my work, and do a little background explanation.

First, I got my salary information from Hoops Hype for the 2013/14 seasons. Simple enough.

Then, I assumed the Lakers will re-sign Dwight Howard to a max contract, with the first year in the neighborhood of $20.3M.

After that, I added on 4 minimum rookie salary "roster charges" (using the 2011/12 rookie scale) as there are only 8 players under contract in 2013/14, and according to Larry Coon's FAQ, a "roster charge" must be added for each player under 12. Note that Jodie Meeks was omitted from the calculation as he just signed a 2-year deal with a team option in the second year. Therefore, he will be replaced with 1 of the 4 minimum contract holds, depicting the scenario where the Lakers save as much money as possible without dumping any of their current players under contract in 2013/14.

Last, I multiplied each $5,000,000 over the cap by the respective factor, which grows as the team goes over the cap. In the end, the Lakers went 7 tiers deep, eventually paying $4.75 in tax on top of every $1 they were paying their players, and the Nets went 4 tiers deep, paying $3.25 on top of every $1.

So here are the calculations:

via img716.imageshack.us

via img854.imageshack.us

Looking at this, I just cannot understand how this sort of thing could be sustainable, unless I grossly misunderstood some part of the new CBA. The Lakers are paying more in tax than the Clippers' entire salary. Are Jim Buss' pockets really that deep? The Lakers aren't old, but this team, as constructed, has a much shorter shelf-life than people might think (keeping in mind that if they pay the tax for 3 out of the next 4 years, the tax goes up by $1.00 for each tier). And while it's been advertised that Prokhorov will spend nearly anything, that's just not a good enough team to be that expensive. The new CBA couldn't prevent super-teams from forming, but it may have been successful in preventing super-teams from turning into decade-long dynasties. Only time will tell.