The Wizards are repeat luxury-tax offenders this year due to several max contracts, including Wall'sNBAE/GETTY IMAGES
Four of the eight NBA franchises with roster salaries exceeding the $123.7M tax level have started the season with records at or below the .500 mark, and Commissioner Adam Silver said he gets "concerned when teams spend themselves into unprofitability," according to Candace Buckner of the WASHINGTON POST. Silver said it is "understandable if they’re trying to chase a championship," and the league is "always looking at the collective bargaining system to see, can we improve it?" Buckner notes the Wizards are 2-7, the third-worst record in the Eastern Conference, and have "one of the highest team salaries in the league." The team this season "will be a repeat luxury-tax offender largely due to the maximum contracts given" to Gs John Wall and Bradley Beal, and F Otto Porter Jr. However, spending exorbitantly "might have been their only way to keep up with the figurative Joneses of the NBA and not lose Wall to a blossoming super-team" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 11/5).
