NBA salary cap rises 6.5% as free-agent negotiations begin

Field Level Media|published: Tue 30th June, 19:38 2026

Mar 12, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls are two of the teams projected to have available cap space as NBA free agency begins. Chicago Bulls guard Josh Giddey (3) moves to the basket against Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia (12) and forward Rui Hachimura (28) during the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The NBA announced Tuesday that the salary cap for the 2026-27 season has been set at $164.961 million, which represents a 6.5% increase over the previous season.

In conjunction with the $10,420,000 rise in each team's cap, the minimum team salary has climbed over $9.2 million to $148.465 million. The first apron level has jumped to $209.015 million -- an increase of $13,070,000 -- and the second apron level has moved to $221.686 million. That's a rise of $13,862,000.

All of these numbers go into effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, six hours after NBA teams were permitted to start negotiating with free agents. That period began at 6 p.m. Tuesday ET.

All free agent negotiations technically must cease at midnight Tuesday. That's when the league's moratorium period goes into effect until noon on Monday, July 6.

According to Spotrac.com, all 30 NBA teams except the Memphis Grizzlies are over the new cap number. The Denver Nuggets, Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic are above the first apron, but no teams are hard-capped at this time by the second apron.

However, being over the cap does not necessarily mean the same thing as being out of cap space.

Per Spotrac, the Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls each are projected to have at least $30 million in cap space to use on prospective free agents. The Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Clippers can make moves to free up cap space.

--Field Level Media

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