Salary cuts to strengthen? TA: Harden and Batum may return at a lower price

May 19th News Today, TheAthletic reporter Danny Leroux wrote an article about the possible operations that the Clippers may perform during the offseason.

Leroux wrote: "James Harden (next season) has a $36.3 million player option, while Nicholas Batum has a $4.9 million player option.

The choice of these two players will directly affect the Clippers' cap space. If both choose to execute their options, the Clippers will have about $12 million in space under the luxury tax line and can be abandoned by giving up Eubanks' non-guaranteed partnership. 17 million.

If this happens and Eubanks is cut, the Clippers can use the complete non-taxpayer middle class special case ($14.9 million) instead of becoming a tax-payer team. But team owner Steve Ballmer may be more willing to accept a small luxury tax to improve the team's competitiveness. In addition, Harden and Batum may also return at a lower price, although this is unlikely."