Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler will be a restricted free agent this summer and the Bulls have the right to match any contract offered to him. It’s being reported that Butler is pursuing a short-term deal due to the salary cap increase starting in the 2016-2017 season.

In October, the NBA reached a new TV deal with TNT and ESPN. NBA teams will split $2.66 billion dollars per year under the new deal. Because of that, the NBA salary cap is going to jump from $67 million in 2015-2016 to $89 million in 2016-2017 and will only go up from there. With the cap increase, instead of making $90 million over a five-year contract, he would seek a five-year contract upwards to $190 million.

His current max contract starts at 25% of the 2015-2016 salary cap, which works out to be around $17 million. By the time 2017 rolls around, his max contract will start around 27 million. Butler averaged 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists last season. He was also named NBA’s Most Improved Player. He proved he was worth more this season so I think what he’s doing is smart. Though there are obviously risks like injury or declining play, the reward could be huge. Very smart move, it’ll be exciting to see how this all plays out.

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