PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland Trail Blazers are $7.7 million under the NBA's salary cap for next season.

Teams began signing players Wednesday, after the league set the cap at $57.7 million. The cap is determined by a percentage of league revenue from the previous season.

The cap was about $1 million less than last season's cap of $58.68 million, even though league-wide revenue rose 2.5 percent. The number is expected to drop further next season when the full effect of the economic difficulties hit.

The cap means that the Blazers can offer a free agent up to $7.7 million for the first year of his contract.

Last week, the Blazers showed interest in free agent forward Hedo Turkoglu, but talks crumbled on Friday.