Chris Broussard, Tom Penn, Amin Elhassan and Antonio Davis explain why we're seeing such large contracts in free agency and break down where the money is coming from. (1:51)

The Cleveland Cavaliers learned of the luxury tax bill for their championship season on Saturday, when the NBA announced the salary cap for next season, league sources say, ‎with owner Dan Gilbert soon required to send in a check for $54 million.

Sources told ESPN.com that the league's annual audit -- which established a $94.1 million salary cap for the 2016-17 campaign -- also officially confirmed that seven teams, led by far by Cleveland, strayed beyond the $84.7 million tax threshold for the 2015-16 season.

In addition to the $54 million in luxury taxes that Cleveland owes before the month is out, three other teams have eight-figure tax obligations to settle. The Los Angeles Clippers owe $19.9 million in luxury tax, followed by the Golden State Warriors ($14.8 million) and Oklahoma City Thunder ($14.5 million).

The league's other three tax teams are the San Antonio Spurs ($4.9 million), Houston Rockets ($4.9 million) and Chicago Bulls ($4.2 million).

Because of the league's revenue-sharing plan, 50 percent of the nearly $120 million in leaguewide luxury tax will be used to fund revenue sharing for the past season, while the league's 23 non-tax-paying teams will each receive a $2.5 million share of the remaining 50 percent this month.