The NBA’s tricky relationship with China may have residual effects that make a big impact on the Portland Trail Blazers in the very near future.
Although the Hong Kong riots have been raging for over half a year now, they have just recently begun to make a difference across the Pacific over in North America. Over the course of the past week, the NBA has taken flak for refusing to take a firm stance against China while Hong Kong fights for their independence. This controversy could result in big changes for the Portland Trail Blazers’ plans for the future.
Ever since Yao Ming’s emergence as a superstar in the NBA, China has become an enormous consumer in the market. Last year, it was projected there were up to 400 million viewers watching the NBA from China — that’s more people than even the United States’ current population.
This partnership has been immensely profitable for the Houston Rockets and the NBA as a whole. However, Houston’s general manager Daryl Morey has recently jeopardized this coupling.
By tweeting a message advocating for Hong Kong’s independence (since deleted), Morey sparked an incredible amount of outrage from the Chinese fan base. While the context behind the Hong Kong protests is the subject of a lot of discussion, the numbers here are objective and indisputable.
Per Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports, at least five NBA teams are anticipating a big profit loss across the league that could potentially result in the league’s projected salary cap room to fall anywhere from 10 to 15 percent.
A drop that substantial could result in team’s losing approximately $12 to $17 million in flexibility, and also knock down the value of a max contract in the NBA.
Considering the Portland Trail Blazers have a total roster payroll exceeding $145 million — the highest of any team in the league — it cannot be understated the huge financial implications this could hold over the organization. Huge sacrifices would have to be made top to bottom if the team would like to keep both Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum around.
One of those sacrifices would likely be trading beloved Blazer Jusuf Nurkic, who is under contract through 2022 on a relatively cheap $12 million price tag. He will almost certainly be looking to cash out upon conclusion of his current contract, forcing the Blazers to make a tough decision when their backcourt is owed in excess of $80 million.
With China reportedly reeling back in it’s criticism of the NBA in order to preserve their hosting bid for the 2022 Olympics, hopefully a compromise can be made that appeases both sides.