NEW YORK — The NBA has set next season's salary cap at $58.7 million, paving the way for contracts to be signed starting Wednesday. The tax level is $71.7 million, with harsher penalties starting this season for teams that exceed it. Teams formerly paid $1 for every $1 they were over, but the penalties now start at $1.50 per dollar for teams up to $4.9 million over, with increases from there. Contracts such as the one Dwight Howard agreed to with Houston couldn't be signed during the league's moratorium period while the cap was calculated. The cap is a slight increase from this season's $58 million. The mid-level exception for non-taxpayers is $5.15 million. It's $3.2 million for teams over the tax, and there's a mid-level worth $2.7 million for teams with room under the salary cap. Rockets fined $150,000 for loose lips on Howard The Houston Rockets have been fined $150,000 for prematurely commenting about new acquisition Dwight Howard, the NBA confirmed. The league has a moratorium on teams discussing personnel business until players officially sign Wednesday. Howard made waves across the league by verbally committing to the Rockets Friday rather than returning to the Los Angeles Lakers. Amidst the excitement, both the Rockets general manager Daryl Morey and coach Kevin McHale publicly commented on securing Howard to draw the penalty. Howard is set to officially sign a four-year, $88 million contract to join the Houston franchise. Argentina beats China Argentina won basketball's Stankovic Cup Tournament in Guangzhou Tuesday, beating China 61-44 in the final with the host scoring its second-lowest total ever. Pablo Espinoza led the scoring for Argentina — who won all three of their games in the group stage — with 14 points, while Selem Safar contributed another 11. China's star player Yi Jianlian overcame injury to contribute half his team's points in the final. Yi, a former NBA player and China's Olympic flag-bearer in London last year, was the only team member to reach double digits. The tournament in the southern Chinese city was China's first under new Greek coach Panagiotis Giannakis. “We're still building our team, so mistakes are inevitable,” he said after an earlier 66-58 loss to Argentina in a round-robin match Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported at the time. China is warming up to defend its FIBA Asia Championship title next month in Manila, where three spots will be available for next year's FIBA World Cup. — Agencies
