After a monster jump in 2016, the NBA's windfall from their new TV media day and expected growth is coming in well below expectations, and that could create absolute chaos in the months ahead, even after the wildest summer in NBA history. Yahoo Sports reported Thursday night about the latest cap projections for the 2018-19 season, which only increase the cap by about $2 million.

That's $1 million less than what was projected in July, and $2 million less than projections from February. The key here is that while the league anticipated reductions this year with another bump in 2019-20, these projections arrive after the 2016 spending splurge which saw Kevin Durant join the Warriors thanks to the bump, and huge contracts all around. In response, the market underwent a dramatic correction this summer with contracts going well below what we saw in 2016, and restricted free agents having the market squeezed to a vice around them, but some of the damage was already done.

The result is that next summer, few teams have significant cap space. Only 12 teams are on track to have more than $10 million in cap space next summer. That's a big deal, because next summer sees LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and DeMarcus Cousins as free agents, just for starters. You have a loaded NBA free agency class with a cap projection well below what teams had planned for in recent years.

Which means this year we could see even more wild trades, even after Kyrie Irving, George, Jimmy Butler and Paul were all dealt this summer. This time, however, it won't be deals for stars, it'll be teams looking to clear cap space. So the teams with an abundance of space and facing rebuilds -- your Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls, and Brooklyn Nets for example -- can present themselves to teams looking to get into the race for those superstars by offering to take on salary ... in exchange for draft picks.

We saw the same mechanism in play back in 2010 when James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and others were hitting the market. Teams were bleeding in trades to try and produce multiple max salary positions. The cap is way looser now compared to then, thanks to the 2011 CBA and the salary cap increase due to the media deal. Still, don't be surprised if teams hear that they have a chance at one of the marquee free agents and starts dealing to create space.

Meanwhile, this is all perfectly set up for the Lakers, who have been linked to all of the stars available at one time or another, and will have a world of cap space. If the Lakers want to pursue multiple max stars, they'll have that ability, without having to do any deals at all.

That $7 million jump projected for 2019-20 will be something to watch, as a $6 million jump could open the doors for more wackiness as well. So while these cap numbers are preliminary and could go up or down depending on a number of factors (including how many games opponents take off the Warriors in the playoffs), they do have real impacts and could signal even more crazy player movement over the next year.