I know this is basic, and that's why I am trying to know it. What is "cap" or "cap room"? And, what is "luxury tax"? Help me out here and please be serious.
I'll give it a shot, but I am no cap expert. The "cap" is a set amount of money a team can spend on all of its players combined. I believe this year's cap is around $54 million. However, some teams do go over this cap. You can do that by having "bird rights" to your players and through trades and stuff. But then you have to pay the "luxury tax". Say Portland's salary is $84 million. They have to pay an additional $30 million in taxes, because they are $30 million over the cap. These "taxes" do not go to the US government though. It stays within the NBA. "Cap room" just means that a team might be under the salary cap. Say the Clippers are at $30 million. That means they have $24 million in "cap room" or "cap space" available. Hope this helps a little bit.
As the resident CC.net basketball guru, I guess it is my turn to tell you what it is... The salary cap is set at around 42.5 million dollars. The luxury tax is at I believe around 53 million or so. Give or take a few mill here and there.
Here is everything you ever wanted to know about the salary cap and a whole whole whole whole whole lot more: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm
