As expected, LeBron James will opt out of his contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers and became a free agent on July 1.

When he returned to Cleveland last summer LeBron signed a two-year, $42.1 million deal with an opt out clause after one year. According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, he's expected to do the same thing this time around. He'll be able to be a free agent in the summer of 2016 and, perhaps, 2017 as well.

By continuing to sign one-year deals, LeBron is going to make himself a ton of money in the long term. Based on our calculations, he'd make an extra $30 million by signing a maximum contract in the summer of 2016 than he would by signing a max contract now, and he'd make an extra $110 million more by waiting until 2017 to sign a max deal.

The value of LeBron's max contract is tied to two things: the salary cap and the number of consecutive years he spends with the Cavs (an NBA provision known as "Bird Rights").

The NBA salary cap is going to explode in the summer of 2016. As a result of the league's massive new TV deal, the salary cap is projected to jump from $67.1 million in 2015-16 to $89 million in 2016-17 and a whopping $108 million in 2017-18. Since LeBron has been in the league for more than 10 years, the value of his max contract starts at slightly less than 35% of the salary cap. With the salary cap about to jump, LeBron would be wise to wait and get ~35% of $89 million in 2016 (or, even better, ~35% of $108 million in 2017) rather than ~35% of $67 million now.

LeBron's max contract right now starts at $22 million. Next summer it starts at $29 million, and in the summer of 2017 it starts at $35.6 million.

That's a massive difference, but LeBron has an even bigger incentive to wait to sign a max deal when you factor in his Bird Rights status. Since LeBron has only been with the Cavs for one year, under NBA rules his max contract can only be four-years long, and his annual raises can only be 4.5% of his first-year salary.

But if he re-signs with the Cavs on a one-year deal, Cleveland will get his "Early Bird Rights" in 2016 because he will have been with the team for two-straight years. That means they can give him a four-year max contract with 7.5% annual raises next summer.

But if he signs two more one-year deals and waits to sign a max contract in the summer of 2017, Cleveland will have his full Bird Rights. As a result, they can give him a five-year max contract with 7.5% annual raises — the biggest contract an NBA player can get.

When you combine these two factors (the exploding salary cap and Cleveland getting his Bird Rights), you end up with wildly different max contracts depending on when LeBron signs it. In 2015, LeBron can sign a four-year, $94.4 million contract. In 2016, he can sign a four-year, $125.3 million contract. And in 2017, he can sign a five-year, $204.4 million contract.

Here's the full breakdown:

The smartest thing that LeBron can due financially is sign two more one-year contracts, and then get that $200+ million deal in 2017. It'd certainly be a risk to pass up guaranteed money now in favor of chasing that mega-contract, but LeBron has never had injury problems, and if there's one 32-year-old who'd be worth a $200 million deal, you think it'd be LeBron.

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NOW WATCH: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The historic 1996 Chicago Bulls championship team

Welcome to Motorsports Monday, here's everything you need to know about the wonderful world of motorsports this week.

Mario Andretti believes America can be great for Formula One.

According to the Guardian's Paul Weaver, the 1978 F1 world champion told the publication that America could save Formula One from its financial troubles. 

Andretti's comments were in response to a rumored deal for Miami Dolphins' owner- Stephen Ross to buy a 35.5% majority stake in Formula One.

The potential deal is said to include backing from Qatari financiers. 

The 75-year old racing legend believes there is room for a second US race in New York or Los Angeles. Currently, the United States Grand Prix is held every fall at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Andretti is last American to win the Formula World Championship. In addition, the Nazareth, Pennsylvania native is also a past winner of the Indy500 and the Daytona 500.

The Busch Brothers finish 1-2 at Sonoma Raceway.

Kyle Busch took his first win of the 2015 season over the weekend at Sonoma. Busch's older brother Kurt followed him across the finished to mark the first time in Nascar Sprint Cup history that the duo has finished 1-2 in a race.

Busch's victory comes just a month after returning from a broken leg and ankle that sidelined the driver for 11 races. 

Fuel pressure problems forced polesitter AJ Allmendinger finished 12 laps behind the leaders in 37 position.

Graham Rahal wins at Fontana, California.

After flirting with victory all year, Graham Rahal finally took his first win of the season over the weekend at the California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Polesitter Simon Pagenaud finished the crash-filled race in ninth position. But the big news coming out of Fontana is the drivers' discontent over what many believe to be unsafe racing conditions. 

Several drivers, including former Indy 500 winners Tony Kanaan and IndyCar series champion Will Power, have spoken out over high-speed, close-quarter racing at the speedway, USA Today reported. 

According to the drivers, the racing conditions over the weekend brought back bad memories of the Las Vegas race in 2011 where former Indy500 champion Dan Wheldon was killed.

SEE ALSO: Lewis Hamilton's F1 championship lead is slipping away as teammate Rosberg comes on strong

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In the chaos and pressure of Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic finds an escape at a Buddhist temple just outside of the All England Club.

According to ESPN's Mark Hodgkinson, for the last four years Djokovic has visited the Buddhapadipa Temple to meditate and relieve stress between matches.

Though Djokovic isn't Buddhist, he appreciates the serenity at the temple and enjoys getting away from the crowds to enjoy nature.

He told Hodgkinson, "When I'm staying in Wimbledon Village, I like to relax between matches by being with nature." He noted he enjoys "hearing the peaceful sounds of the water and seeing people just relax and connect with nature."

In 2013, Djokovic also opened up about his meditation visits, saying:

"It’s very calm and quiet, obviously. I stay in a house which is very nearby. We like Wimbledon and London in general because there are so many beautiful parks and nature, places which you can call getaways during these two weeks of a hectic grand-slam atmosphere... Obviously, there is a huge amount of pressure and stress and everything involved, so you need to have a place where you know you can switch off and recharge your batteries. I guess it’s private, in a way. But I just can say that it’s a very calm and very beautiful environment where I like to spend time."

Phramaha Bhatsakorn Piyobhas, one of the monks at the temple, told Hodgkinson that meditation improves concentration and focus, which could in turn help someone play tennis, or any sport, better.

Djokovic has become increasingly involved in off-the-court preparation in recent years. He has a strict, gluten-free diet and practices Eastern medicine, according to Paul Newman of The Independent. Djokovic also released a self-help lifestyle book in 2013 called "Serve to Win."

The monks at Buddhapadipa Temple are familiar with Djokovic by now, although he often meditates alone instead of in groups or classes with them. Though they don't have a TV at the temple, Piyobhaso told Hodgkinson that they can follow Djokovic's progress on the Internet, or monitor the crowd noise from the nearby Centre Court.

Djokovic won his first round in three sets at Wimbledon on Monday, and is aiming for his third Wimbledon title in his career.

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The Chicago Cubs have been rebuilding for several years now with an unorthodox plan. They seemed ready to become a serious World Series contender last winter when they added two of the biggest free agent prizes in pitcher Jon Lester and manager Joe Maddon.

But their plan has a flaw and it is being exposed in a big way.

After being swept over the weekend by the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs have lost five in a row. Their starting pitchers gave up 17 runs in 23.1 innings during that stretch. The losses dropped the Cubs to 11.5 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central.

Plain and simple, the Cubs don't have enough starting pitching, and finding some will be tough to do in the trade market, Buster Olney of ESPN.com explained.

Olney notes that there may not be many starting pitchers available and those who may end up on the market come with red flags for the Cubs, whether it is a divisional rival (e.g. the Reds) or a player who has spurned the Cubs before (e.g. Jeff Samardzija).

The bigger problem for the Cubs is that they can't turn to their minor league system for help, and that lack of depth in starting pitching is by design.

For years now, most MLB teams have subscribed to the theory that pitching wins championships and there are two ways to acquire pitching talent.

Teams can either overspend on aging arms and hope they can stay healthy and effective, or teams can hoard a ton of young pitching prospects and hope a few of them pan out and become talented big leaguers who don't take up a lot of payroll space.

But while most teams were zigging, the Cubs were zagging, and on some levels it was a genius move.

With many teams subscribing to the hoard-young-pitching plan, to varying degrees of success, the Cubs were out hoarding top hitting prospects and quietly built what Baseball America ranked as the No. 1 farm system in terms of talent. Of the Cubs' top eight prospects, only one is a pitcher.

The upside of building a team around young hitting prospects is that you don't need to invest in as many. Talented position player prospects are almost never busts. They may not all become all-stars, but injury is much less of a concern and most become at least serviceable everyday players in the big leagues.

To make things more exciting for those on the north side of Chicago, several of those top prospects were on the verge of making it to the big leagues heading into this season, led by top prospects Kris Bryant, Addison Russell, and Jorge Soler.

The Cubs did add Lester with a six-year, $155 million contract that could be worth as much as $170 million and the starting pitchers did get off to a good start early in the season.

But the lack of depth is being exposed with Tsuyoshi Wada now on the disabled list for the second time this season and the rotation's ERA ballooning to a below-average 4.31 in the month of June.

There is still hope for the Cubs since they are just 1.5 games back in the Wild Card. But they can't afford any more injuries or struggles from their starting pitching.

If that happens, the Cubs will once again be looking to next year.

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Days after telling ESPN's Dan Rafael that there was "50-50" chance he'd come out of retirement, 42-year-old Oscar De La Hoya announced Monday that he will, in fact, remain retired.

Here's what he said in a Facebook post:

"As a professional athlete and someone who has spent almost his entire life in boxing, not a day goes by when I don't think about coming back — and the performances of these Golden Boy fighter has only added to my desire to return to the ring. But I am retired, and after speaking to my family and following a great deal of introspection, I have decided to stay retired."

De La Hoya's announcement comes after he told Rafael he was "very serious" about coming out of retirement for a possible rematch against Floyd Mayweather Jr., or for a chance at the feared Gennady Golovkin.

"I want to fight one of them because they are the best and I always fought the best," De La Hoya told ESPN. "That's what boxing is all about — fighting the best... I think my two front-runners are Floyd and triple G."

While he hasn't fought in more than seven years, De La Hoya, who was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2014, told ESPN he still feels great physically, but didn't want to upset his children, who weren't supportive of the idea of their 42-year-old father getting back into the ring.

"My wife was all for it," De La Hoya told ESPN. "But my kids didn't want to see old papa get hurt."

Here's his full statement:

Over the last six months I've had a front row seat as Golden Boy fighters including Canelo Alvarez, Bernard Hopkins, Lucas Matthysse, Jorge Linares and David Lemieux have stepped into the ring and shown what boxing should be all about -- a commitment to fight the best, to respect the sport and to put the fans first.

As a professional athlete and someone who has spent almost his entire life in boxing, not a day goes by when I don't think about coming back — and the performances of these Golden Boy fighter has only added to my desire to return to the ring.

But I am retired, and after speaking to my family and following a great deal of introspection, I have decided to stay retired.

However, I do so with knowledge that many fighters today still pride themselves on the same principals that I adhered to throughout my career. It is now through boxers like those I mentioned and dozens of other Golden Boy Promotions fighters that those values live on.

To the many thousands of fans who over the last couple of weeks encouraged me to come out of retirement and fight again, I thank you. You can rest assured that I will spend the rest of my days around this wonderful sport, even though those days won't be spent inside the ropes.

- Oscar

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Gregory Silveira, a former sports gambling handicapper, has pleaded guilty to three counts of money laundering involving $2.75 million reportedly linked to Phil Mickelson as part of "an illegal gambling operation," Mike Fish and David Purdum report for ESPN's "Outside the Lines," citing two unnamed sources close to the investigation.

According to the report, Mickelson is not being investigated and has not been charged in the case.

The case against Silveira revolves around a $2.75 million wire transfer he received from a "gambling client" and was to be used for "illegal sports betting."

Mickelson is not named in the court documents. However, the two sources for "Outside the Lines" identified Mickelson as the unnamed "gambling client." Also, an initial plea agreement referred to "money laundering of funds from P.M."

According to the ESPN report, Mickelson has a history of sports gambling, with sources telling "Outside the Lines" that Mickelson has "won far larger sums betting on major sporting events like the Super Bowl" and that "Mickelson still bets on sports in Vegas."

Silveira is facing up to 60 years in prison but is expected to be sentenced to far less.

Mickelson's publicist declined to comment on the report when contacted by Business Insider. One of Mickelson's attorneys declined to comment in the ESPN report.

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SEE ALSO: Rory McIlroy explains why adding 20 pounds of muscle is good for his game and the sport of golf

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NOW WATCH: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The historic 1996 Chicago Bulls championship team

Last summer, the New York Knicks faced a difficult decision with Carmelo Anthony.

Anthony was a free agent, and the Knicks had to decide whether to re-sign him or try to get something back for him in a trade if he decided to leave for a contender.

He ultimately stayed with the Knicks, who used their biggest advantage: money. He signed a five-year, $124 million deal.

It wasn't entirely a bad decision. Anthony was coming off one of the best seasons of his career, and the Knicks, entering a new era under president Phil Jackson, wanted a centerpiece around which to build a contender.

However, one year into the deal, Anthony, now 31 years old, and his contract are becoming a problem for the Knicks as they try to rebuild the team. Anthony is aging, coming off knee surgery, and requires a very specific roster construction around him that makes it difficult to add players. With over $100 million committed to Anthony in the final years of his prime, the Knicks are stuck between making a quick turnaround to appease him, or going for a full-scale rebuild with young players.

The Knicks virtually fell into the latter option when after a 17-65 season, they were awarded the fourth pick in the draft and took 19-year-old Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis. While Porzingis is said to have the highest ceiling in the draft, he figures to be a project and probably won't be a contributor right away. Anthony was reportedly mad about the pick, though he later called Porzingis a "steal."

Regardless of Anthony's feelings about the pick, the Knicks still haven't gotten Anthony any immediate help for next season.

The opportunity to get Anthony some immediate help would come in free agency, but if most reports are to be believed, the biggest names in free agency don't have the Knicks at the top of their list. Though nothing is certain until contracts are signed, players like LaMarcus Aldridge, Kevin Love, Marc Gasol, and several of the top restricted free agents seem unlikely to join the Knicks.

That means the Knicks have to look at the next tier of free agents and get creative to fit several players into their ~$26 million in cap space. Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday afternoon that the Knicks are front-runners to sign guard Arron Afflalo and big man Greg Monroe:

For months, the Knicks and rival executives have believed that New York is the likely destination for Detroit fre- agent forward Greg Monroe, and now it appears that Afflalo is the most likely target to potentially join him with Carmelo Anthony in New York, league sources told Yahoo Sports.

With Monroe expecting to command a maximum contract on the market, Afflalo could earn a deal in the neighborhood of three years, $36 million-$38 million, league sources said.

For the Knicks, this isn't a great rebuilding plan. While Monroe is one of the best post scorers in the NBA and Afflalo is a serviceable wing, neither fit the Knicks' plans to rebuild, particularly Monroe.

With Anthony and Monroe on the court together, the Knicks would lack spacing, as Anthony likes to operate from the elbows in the midrange, while Monroe likes the post. They could theoretically survive on offense if Anthony moved to power forward, Monroe to center, and surrounded them with shooters. However, the Knicks and Anthony seem to resist playing Anthony at stretch-4, and Monroe struggles with rim protection. If they play their preferred positions at small forward and power forward, the Knicks need a center, and unless that center can shoot three-pointers, it will only further clog spacing on offense.

This is where the Knicks stand — they can't sign the top free agents, their next targets don't fit well with Anthony, and their draft pick probably isn't NBA-ready.

The Knicks are essentially stuck in a place between a lengthy rebuild with developmental projects (Porzingis) and win-now mode with Anthony aging past his prime. They seem unable to get Anthony the immediate help he needs to vault the Knicks into championship contention, but the other route would be trading Anthony for draft picks and going into a full rebuild — a sensible, albeit undesirable option.

Again, not all of this is Anthony's (or the Knicks') fault. Part of it has been bad luck — a far worse-than-expected roster and an injury to Anthony — but the Knicks now owe an aging superstar coming off knee surgery millions of dollars, and they lack any easy way to unify these two rebuilding directions. 

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MLB has announced that it's revamping the format for this year's Home Run Derby.

There will be eight hitters (down from 10) in a bracket-style single-elimination tournament, with the loser of each matchup immediately eliminated. Seeding is based on each player's home run total through July 7. 

The rounds are now timed. Unlike the old format, which gave each batter 10 "outs" to record as many home runs as possible, each contestant now gets five minutes to hit as many homers as they can. Hitters can get extra time in two ways:

1. In the final minute of each round, the clock stops for every home run and doesn't start again until a non-home run.
2. Players can receive bonus time based on the distance of their home runs. Two home runs of at least 420 feet results in one minute of added time, and a home run of at least 475 feet results in an additional 30 seconds.

Batters also have the option of using a 45-second timeout, available in each round. 

The 2015 Home Run Derby will be held July 13 at the Cincinnati Reds' Great American Ball Park. If he participates, Yoenis Cespedes will attempt to be the first player in history to win the event three years in a row.

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The NBA's free-agency period begins Wednesday.

A deep, talented free-agent class and the threat of the exploding salary cap in 2016 and 2017 should make this one of the more interesting free-agency periods in recent years.

With stars such as LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love potentially looking for new teams — and valuable role players looking to join contenders — teams with money to spend should have plenty of options.

Here's a look at the top free agents this summer.

* = restricted free agent, meaning a player's original team can match any offer the player receives.

1. LeBron James, F

2014-15 team: Cleveland Cavaliers

Rumored landing spots: Cavaliers

One thing to know: LeBron is opting out because he can make far more money and put pressure on the Cavs to build the team to his liking. It's almost a definite that James returns Cleveland — this is simply a power play.

2. LaMarcus Aldridge, PF

2014-15 team: Portland Trail Blazers

Rumored landing spots: San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Toronto Raptors

One thing to know: Aldridge appears to be the premier free agent most likely to leave his team. He's been linked to San Antonio to anchor the Spurs in the post-Tim Duncan era, but there are reports that he likes the Lakers, too.

3. Marc Gasol, C

2014-15 team: Memphis Grizzlies

Rumored landing spots: Grizzlies, Spurs, New York Knicks

One thing to know: It's a long-shot Gasol leaves Memphis, where he went to high school and has played his whole career. He'll still be highly coveted, though, and teams such as the Spurs and the Knicks seem poised to try to find ways to woo him.

When it comes to World Cups, one thing is abundantly clear, the women's tournament and the men's tournament are not treated the same.

The latest difference to irk the teams are the hotels. Specifically, teams that are playing each other have been staying in the same hotels, creating awkward situations for the players and coaches.

While speaking with the media, Germany coach Silvia Neid, who is staying in the same hotel as the US team before Tuesday's semifinal, expressed her frustration with the situation (via Soccer America and Yahoo! Sports).

“I believe this doesn’t meet the level of professionalism you should expect at a World Cup,” Neid told the media. “You run into each other all over the hotel, stand together in the elevator, in the lobby. Even if you know and like each other, it's not easy always having to make small-talk. It was especially uncomfortable after the quarterfinal, constantly encountering the sad French players. That makes one somehow sad, too.”

Neid went on to explain that it has been the same all tournament, also noting that they had to share a hotel with Sweden after defeating them in the first round of the knockout stage and adding, “FIFA must by all means evolve.”

United States coach Jill Ellis agreed that it is awkward, noting that she nearly walked into Germany's meal room leading up to their semifinal matchup. Ellis also admitted she wasn't sure how it is handled at the men's tournament. Grant Wahl clarified.

The differences in the men's and women's World Cups has been painfully obvious throughout, starting with FIFA's decision before the tournament to play all of the Women's World Cup games on artificial turf, something not required of the men and something objected to by many of the female players due to how hard the surface can be on the body. This led to a group of women's soccer players unsuccessfully suing FIFA.

There was also the tournament draw, which forced two of the top teams in the world, No. 3 France and No. 1 Germany, to play each other in the quarterfinals in an effort to boost attendance and television ratings.

And there is the enormous disparity in the amount of money up for grabs, $358 million in last year's men's World Cup compared to just a $15 million purse for the Women's World Cup.

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After a three-year-old tweet in which Los Angeles Lakers 27th-overall pick Larry Nance Jr. called Kobe Bryant a "rapist" went viral on draft night, Nance says he'll now refer to Kobe as "Mr. Bryant."

"Until he says, 'I'm Kobe to you,' he's going to be 'Mr. Bryant' and 'sir,'" Nance told ESPN's Baxter Holmes.

Nance said he deleted the tweet, which he posted in 2012, minutes after he was drafted by the Lakers, but not before it became well publicized:

Nance said he wrote Kobe a long text message apologizing shortly after the tweet went viral. During an interview with ESPN's Jemele Hill, Kobe said the entire situation was "water under the bridge," although he was taken back by Nance starting his message with, "Hi Mr. Bryant."

"The kid figured it out himself," Bryant said. "He's a kid, man. He actually sent me a great message [Friday], which is really funny. I looked at it [the message], and it was like, 'This is when you know it's about time to hang these things up, when your teammate writes you, Hi, Mr. Bryant.'"

"I was like, 'What the f***?' But it was really nice and apologetic about what had happened. I said, 'Dude, listen. We've all said things and done things that we regret and wish we could take back. It's water under the bridge, man. Welcome to the team.' He writes back, 'Thank you, sir.'"

Many people believed the tweet would cause a rift between the Lakers first round selection and their star player. ESPN's Ramona Shelbourne assumed it would be extremely difficult for the two "to get off on the right foot, or any foot at all":

"I don't think he's going to take this very well even if you say it was two or three years ago and even if you say, 'I'm a different person now and I was a stupid stupid kid back then and I shouldn't have said it.' I think this is going to be a problem even if they talk it out. It's going to be hard to get off on the right foot, or any foot at all."

Nance, who said his "stomach was in a knot" and he felt as though he was going to throw up, told Holmes Kobe's response was exactly what he needed and he couldn't be more grateful.

The 22-year-old power forward also released a statement on Twitter addressing Lakers fans in an attempt to earn their respect and forgiveness:

"Laker fans.. I know I left a terrible first impression, and I apologize for the entire incident. But I plan to earn your respect by wearing the purple and gold honorably and giving you all I have on and off of the court. Hopefully these next couple of days, weeks, months, I can make you all look past this time and instead look forward to our upcoming season! I’m just ecstatic to be in LA and to play my role in restoring the Lakers to their dominance behind the guidance of my new coaches and teammates!

#GoLakers"

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NOW WATCH: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The historic 1996 Chicago Bulls championship team

Cade Palmer and Malachi Templeton filmed this awesome adrenaline-filled video as they paraglided in New Zealand. 

Video courtesy of Malachi Templeton

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It is no secret that Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is underpaid, but the chart below gives a sense of just how underpaid the Super Bowl-winning quarterback is.

Wilson is one of eight active quarterbacks who have won a Super Bowl as a starter. If Wilson plays the 2015 season under his current contract — and all signs point to this happening — he will make just $1.54 million for the fourth season of his rookie contract. That is tied for No. 41 among all quarterbacks.

Meanwhile, if we look at total cash expected to be paid to the top 60 quarterbacks in 2015 (salary and bonuses), the other seven quarterbacks to start at quarterback for a Super Bowl champion will average $16.8 million and there will be 39 quarterbacks who did not start for a Super Bowl winner making more than Wilson.

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After Chicago Bulls breakout star Jimmy Butler won the gamble he took on himself in 2014-15, the Bulls may have found a way to limit his leverage as a free agent this summer.

Butler enters July as one of the NBA's best free agents, but knowing the NBA's salary cap is going to jump next summer thanks to the league's new TV deal, he wants to sign a short-term deal so he can opt out in 2016 or 2017 when max contracts are worth more than they are now.

Despite being a restricted free agent, which allows the Bulls to match any offer Butler receives, Butler could insist on only signing short deals so that he can become an unrestricted free agent in 2016 or 2017.

However, the Bulls may have found a way to avoid that. By offering Butler a rarely used type of contract, the Bulls have eliminated his ability to sign short-term deals elsewhere. The Bulls have put themselves in position to either retain Butler long term, or force him to play on a below-market contract in 2015-16.

The Bulls have given Butler the maximum qualifying offer, according to Basketball Insider's Eric Pincus. As Mark Deeks wrote at HoopsHype, this is a little-known CBA provision that is the most player-friendly deal a team can offer:

In a Maximum Qualifying Offer, there can be no option years whatsoever, nor any bonuses, nor any wiggle room on the salary. A Maximum Qualifying Offer is an offer of the very maximum; the full five years, the full 7.5 percent raises, and a full 100 percent guarantee in each year. It is the most player-friendly contract a team can possibly offer. And that is why it has never been used.

As Deeks writes, what the maximum qualifying offer does do is limit Butler's options. Here's what he can do:

• Butler can accept the Bulls maximum qualifying offer for five years, $90 million.
• Butler can refuse that offer, but because the Bulls have still extended it to him, other teams can only offer him contracts for a minimum of three years, with no team or player options in the first three years.
• Butler can take Chicago's simple $4.4 million, one-year qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent in 2016.

This gives the Bulls a huge advantage. If Butler takes the max offer, they lock him up for five years, and the $18 million yearly average he'd make would be a bargain compared to what max contracts will be worth when the salary cap spikes.

If Butler doesn't sign the Bulls' max offer and chooses another team, he'll be taking less money. Other teams can only offer Butler a max contract over four years with 4.5% yearly raises. As a restricted free agent, the Bulls can match that offer and lock Butler up for three or four years at an even cheaper rate.

Butler's final option is to take his $4.4 million qualifying offer for the 2015-16 season and become an unrestricted free agent next summer. In some ways, this is an advantageous option for Butler, as Grantland's Zach Lowe writes:

The catch: Butler would earn just $4.4 million next season playing under the qualifying offer, nearly $11.5 million less than the $15.8 million he’d make in the first year of a long-term max deal from the Bulls.

But the cap boom chips away at that risk by ballooning the reward at the other end. A max deal for Butler signed a year from now, with the cap at $90 million, would start at around $21 million — a massive jump. Butler could play out one season with the Bulls, sign a four-year deal next summer with another team, and make about $4 million more over that five-year period than he would re-signing with Chicago for the long haul now. That kind of upside just didn’t exist in a normal cap environment.

Taking the $4.4 million qualifying offer is less desirable in other ways, however. After Butler turned down a four-year, $40 million extension from the Bulls last fall to play out his rookie deal, he'd be taking yet another gamble on himself. One serious injury or one major statistical regression, and Butler might not sniff the max deal he could get now.

As Lowe notes, the best compromise may be for Butler to sign a three-year deal with a fourth-year player option. Butler would earn some security and money in the immediate future, and the Bulls would get another three years of Butler in his prime. By the time he could opt out after three years, he'd be in his seventh season, just 28 years old, and would be eligible for the second-highest max in the league, which would pay him 30% of the league's salary cap (over $100 million by that time).

The Bulls have played the situation as wisely as they can. They reward Butler with a max contract now while earning long-term security. If he turns it down, they can match any other offer he gets, which would be shorter and cheaper. And if Butler has the guts to take another one-year gamble on himself, the Bulls get another year of his services at an extremely cheap rate while knowing they did everything they could to keep him.

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NBA free agency opens on July 1, and many teams plan to waste no time in meeting with prospective targets.

The Warriors are meeting with Draymond Green at midnight. The Lakers and Rockets will pitch themselves to LaMarcus Aldridge "shortly after the free-agency period officially begins at 12:01 a.m."

The San Antonio Spurs are one of the teams trying to lure Aldridge, one of the top free agents available, away from Portland. According to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo, Gregg Popovich, Tim Duncan, and Tony Parker are all going to meet with Aldridge on Wednesday. But it will not be in the middle of the night.

The Express News' Buck Harvey asked Popovich if he would make a midnight pitch to Aldridge, and Popovich replied with a classic Popovich quote:

"I’m not calling anyone at midnight. I’ll be in bed. And if that’s the difference in someone coming or not coming, then I don’t want them."

Grumpy, concise, perceptive, and completely accurate. This is peak Popovich.

In recent years NBA teams have made increasingly grand gestures to try and convince free agents to sign with them. The Knicks flew Steve Nash around in a helicopter. The Rockets made a billboard with Carmelo Anthony photoshopped into a Houston jersey. The Clippers reportedly plan to show DeAndre Jordan a hype video of himself.

None of those things really matter. If Aldridge ends up in San Antonio it'll be because he's convinced by what Tim Duncan and Gregg Popovich have to say, not because of symbolic acts.

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"Shark Tank" investor and cyber security entrepreneur Robert Herjavec takes his athletic hobbies as seriously as his business ventures, whether it's running marathons or racing cars.

It's why he often finds parallels between sports and business, using lessons from one to benefit the other.

Herjavec once learned a particularly valuable lesson after meeting Georges St. Pierre, the semi-retired, three-time UFC mixed martial arts champion, according to his 2014 book "The Will To Win."

Herjavec says St. Pierre is one of the most interesting people he's ever met, and St. Pierre's approach to training taught him about priorities.

"Power is efficiency," St. Pierre told Herjavec. "It is not necessarily strength or endurance."

St. Pierre competed in the welterweight class, meaning he's not that big of a guy, at about 5 feet 10 inches and 170 pounds. It's not hard to find an athlete who can lift more weight or run further than he can. But it is hard to find someone who could beat him in a fight.

"Georges and other UFC fighters need enough strength to last just five rounds, but more than anything else, they need to draw upon sudden strength at key moments," Herjavec writes. "UFC fighters need training to develop 'fast-twitch' muscles, powerful responses from the body that occur almost before they realize they're needed."

Herjavec saw a useful metaphor in this insight.

An entrepreneur or a veteran business executive can become so focused on developing or maintaining their business that they lose sight of the competition. They may think their product or service is so exceptional that it's all they need to continue growing.

But if they don't also take into account how quickly their competitors can react, they'll be defeated.

"If you have the endurance to reject mediocrity and reach the highest goals you set for yourself, congratulations," Herjavec writes. "And if you develop enough strength for yourself, your team, and your organization to exert the power to get things done, you have achieved a good deal."

"But if," he continues, "you lack the response of fast-twitch muscles, the ability to turn on the power as soon as it's needed instead of mulling over the situation while the opportunity fades, you're handicapping yourself."

SEE ALSO: 'Shark Tank' investor Robert Herjavec explains how to know you should quit your job and become a full-time entrepreneur

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Pete Sampras wrote a letter to his younger self for Derek Jeter's The Players' Tribune.

The letter can best be described as advice he would have given himself before he won his first U.S. Open at the age of 19 and before he won the first of 14 Grand Slam titles in what would become one of the greatest tennis careers of all time.

While most of the advice he wishes he had received deals with life as a professional athlete and even the sport of tennis, it is easy to see how the same advice can be applied in other careers.

On being prepared to handle the media crush that comes with success.

On being stubborn.

On taking caring of your most important tool, your body.

On appreciating your biggest rival.

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With the NBA's free agency period kicking off on July 1, this summer figures to be an anomaly in the history of the NBA.

One year from now, the NBA's massive new TV deal will kick in, which will make the salary cap spike to unprecedented levels. In 2016-17, the cap is projected at $89 million; in 2017-18, it's projected at $108 million.

When teams have never-before-seen spending ability, players know they have a shot at never-before-seen contract offers starting in 2016. For players entering free agency this summer, it creates an odd situation — sign a long-term deal now, or gamble on a short contract to hit free agency when the big spending begins?

In some ways this is a decision players face every year, but the potential of a massive payday in the NBA's new cap environment creates a stronger argument for a short-term deal than ever before. As Grantland's Zach Lowe writes in the case of LaMarcus Aldridge, a premier free agent this summer, "double-dipping" into free agency would earn players far more money than going into a long-term contract in the coming weeks:

Aldridge could sign a two-year max deal with Portland, then hit free agency again, sign another two-year max deal, and make more money in just the next four years — about $111 million — than Portland can offer in that traditional five-year max contract. Over the full five years, Aldridge could earn about $35 million more double-dipping in free agency than by signing the longest possible contract with the Blazers this summer. THIRTY-FIVE MILLION. Only a fool would ignore that.

For bonafide All-Stars and max-level players like Aldridge, this is the kind of risk they can afford to take, knowing the money will be there again at the end of the contract.

NBA agent Alex Saratsis of Octagon told Business Insider, "When you talk about guys like LeBron James or like Kevin Durant or like Kevin Love, these guys can afford to take that risk because they’re high-level players and they know that they’re gonna get the max contract no matter what."

"As agents we always discuss with our players, do you go for security and give a discount for security, long-term security, or do you try and hit the home run and assume the risk?" Saratsis continued. "Jimmy Butler assumed a risk with not accepting an extension from Chicago and it’s panned out. There have been other guys who have decided to not sign extensions or not signed long term deals that it's hurt. So I think every player is different. I think when you're looking at the upper echelon of NBA players, I think they can all take that inherent risk."

For max-level players, the benefit is obvious. Max contracts are tied to a percentage of the salary cap. Players who have been in the NBA for seven to nine years get 30% of the salary cap. Naturally, 30% of a $108 million salary cap is much greater than 30% of a $67 million salary cap.

The greater risk, as Saratsis mentioned, is with player who aren't max-level free agents. The average value of contracts will go up with the rising cap, but non-superstar players are always an injury or one bad season away from lessening their value and losing a big contract offer.

Saratsis pointed to one of his clients, Kendall Marshall, a backup point guard who tore his ACL last season, as an example.

"The question with him becomes: do we go and prove for one year that you're healthy and can play really well, or do we accept something that’s a little bit long-term and a little bit under value because you'll have the security that you need coming off of an ACL [tear]?" Saratsis said. "It's guys who are still fighting to make a name for themselves whose injuries can really affect the decisions that they make."

This also creates an odd environment for negotiations. As Saratsis notes, teams know players often depend on long-term security, so they'll offer an extra year on a contract in exchange for a discounted yearly rate. If players this summer aren't depending on long-term security the way they typically would, teams may have to offer more money outright, even if it's on a short-term deal.

Ultimately, it depends on the player and the team, as each negotiation is different.

"You have to weigh everything," agent Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports told BI. "You have to kind of play out in your mind the pros and cons to every alternative and see the risks and rewards of every alternative. And ultimately, you come up for what you think is best for you and your family and your long-term financial health and your long-term playing career."

Each free agency period, players always face these decisions — settle for a contract they like, or take a short deal and try to prove they're worth more. This summer, however, is perhaps the most unique in NBA history, where the potential reward for foregoing long-term security is greater than ever. 

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton is single-handedly bringing back one of the most exciting feats in Major League Baseball, the stolen base.

On Monday night, Hamilton stole four bases against the Minnesota Twins giving him 40 for the season. The second-year outfielder is now on pace to steal 86 bases, which would make him the first player to steal at least 80 bases in a single season since Rickey Henderson (93) and Vince Coleman (81) both did it in 1988.

But what is really amazing is that 86 stolen bases may actually be a low bar for Hamilton. He's getting better at stealing bases as the season goes on, and he is still not very good at the most important aspect of base thievery: getting on base.

Hamilton has nearly as many stolen bases in June (19) as he had in April and May combined (21). Those 19 stolen bases in June are more than 25 teams have in the same month and are more than the Dodgers (14) have all season.

Even if Hamilton reaches just 75 stolen bases, he will achieve something that has nearly disappeared from the game.

Now imagine how many bases Hamilton could steal if he could get on base.

Hamilton has an on-base percentage of .273, 42 points below the MLB average of .315. That rate has improved to .295 over the last month but is still not very good.

If Hamilton matures into his role at the plate, stealing 100 bases should become an annual target for the speedster, something that has only been accomplished by four different players in MLB history.

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NOW WATCH: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The historic 1996 Chicago Bulls championship team