The numbers are in and the NBA has its 2015-16 starting point, with the league on Wednesday releasing the salary-cap, luxury-tax and mid-level exception figures for the coming season.

The working assumption during the moratorium period had been an upcoming salary cap of $67.1 million and a luxury-tax threshold at $81.6 million for 2015-16.

Instead, the NBA announced Wednesday:

-- The salary cap for 2015-16 will be $70 million, an increase of 11 percent over this past season.

-- The luxury-tax for 2015-16 will start with payrolls that exceed $84.7 million, a 10.3-percent increase of the tax line for this past season.

-- The full mid-level exception for 2015-16 with be $5.5 million.

-- The taxpayer mid-level exception for teams operating above the tax line will be $3.4 million.

-- The mid-level exception for teams operating with cap space who then reach the cap will be $2.8 million.

-- In addition, the minimum that teams must pay for their 2015-16 payrolls has been set at $63 million.

The Miami Heat currently stand in excess of $90 million in 2015-16 payroll, putting them well over the NBA's soft salary cap and deep into the luxury tax. Those numbers, however, will remain fluid, with transactions still possible this offseason and the 2015-16 final taxable payroll figure not computed until the end of next June.

With the tax line now established at $84.7 million, the optimal scenario for the Heat would be to reduce payroll to below that figure, which could be possible with trades of players such as Chris Andersen, Josh McRoberts and Mario Chalmers, even with the major contracts about to be signed by Dwyane Wade and Goran Dragic, deals that could be finalized as early as Thursday.

While Wade is expected to sign a one-year, $20 million contract, the maximum for a player of his NBA tenure was computed Wednesday by the NBA at $23 million.

The working figures for the 2016-17 season, when a massive influx of revenue will enter the equation, the result of new media deals that kick in that season, had been expected to come in at an $89 million cap and $108 million tax threshold. But based on Wednesday's increase over the anticipated 2015-16 numbers, the 2016-17 numbers now also are expected to come in higher than forecast.

iwinderman@tribpub.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ira.winderman