Contract/Trade Details: Harden Deal, Grizzlies’ Picks

James Harden’s new three-year contract with the Cavaliers includes a starting salary of $30,647,619, according to Bobby Marks of ESPN and Sports Business Classroom.

As we detailed over the weekend, because Cleveland was operating just $30,692,664 below its first-apron hard cap and only held Harden’s Non-Bird rights, which limited him to 5% annual raises, he couldn’t get the full $97MM that he and the team reportedly agreed to last month. But he’ll get pretty close.

With a $30,647,619 starting salary and 5% raises, Harden’s three-year total works out to $96,540,000. His deal also reportedly includes a third-year player option and a 15% trade kicker.

After signing Harden, Cleveland has just $45,045 in breathing room below the first apron, with 14 players on standard contracts. It’s certainly possible the Cavs will generate a little more cap flexibility during the preseason or the season by making other roster moves, but right now the team would be ineligible to sign a free agent as a 15th man until April 9, when the prorated minimum-salary cap hit would dip to $42,231.

Marks also provided the details on the draft picks involved in Tuesday’s trade between the Grizzlies and Pelicans, reporting that Memphis acquired Toronto’s 2031 second-round pick, as well as second-round swap rights in 2032.

The Grizzlies already controlled the most favorable of their own, the Sixers’, and the Jazz’s 2032 second-rounders. They now have the right to swap the most favorable of those three picks for the Pelicans’ own 2032 second-rounder.