The Brooklyn Nets will pay a record $90.57 million in luxury taxes for the 2013-14 season, sources told ESPN.com.
The NBA released its audit to teams ahead of the start of the new fiscal year at midnight Wednesday and revealed the numbers, including the Nets' penalty for splurging after trading for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett last year. In all, the Nets paid more than $197 million in salaries and luxury taxes this past season. Only three other teams had paid more than $90 million in total tax since its inception in 2001.
As part of the memo, the new salary cap was set at $63.065 million, a 7.5 percent increase from last season. That is slightly less than the $63.2 million estimation teams had been using. Revenues were $4.5 billion, up 5.3 percent from last year. The NBA also made an early projection of $66 million for the 2015-16 salary cap.
The new luxury tax line will be $76.8 million, a 7.1 percent increase from last season's $71.7 million. The luxury tax was estimated to increase to $80 million for the 2015-16 season.
Maximum salaries have gone up, as well. The new values are $14.7 for players with 0-6 years of experience, $17.7 for players with 7-9 years experience and $20.6 for players with 10 or more years in the league. LeBron James' max would be $20.6 million under those terms.
Overall, there were five luxury tax payers. The New York Knicks ($36.3 million), Miami Heat ($14.4 million), Los Angeles Lakers ($8.9 million) and Los Angeles Clippers ($1.3 million) also paid into a pool. Each non-taxpaying team will receive $3 million as part of the dispersal.
ESPN Insider's Larry Coon contributed to this report.
