One of the goals of the NBA’s latest Collective Bargaining Agreement is to curb spending. The higher a team’s payroll, the fewer tools they have.
The NBA has a soft cap, which allows teams to spend without limit, provided they have the tools (more formally, “exceptions”) to do so. But certain exceptions will trigger hard spending limits at the first ($178.1 million) or second ($188.9 million) aprons. Once a team chooses to have a hard cap, it cannot, under any circumstance, climb above it. Similarly, if a team is above an apron, it cannot use an exception that would trigger that spending limit.
The first apron is triggered by the use of the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (NTMLE), Bi-Annual Exception (BAE) or from acquiring a player via sign-and-trade (S&T). The second apron is triggered by using the Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception (TMLE). Additionally, teams above the apron cannot use the Expanded Traded Player Exception (ETPE) that allows for salary matching above 110 percent (through the 2023-24 regular season, then reduces to no more than 100 percent), among other triggers.
The following lists each team, their apron payroll (which includes all player incentives), their apron status and the tools used to trigger a hard cap, if applicable:
| Team | Apron Payroll |
Over/Under |
Level | Trigger(s) |
| Atlanta Hawks | $170,381,400 | -$7,750,600 | First apron hard cap | S&T (Cody Zeller), Preexisting TPE (multiple players in via John Collins) ETPE (Caris LeVert, Georges Niang, Bones Hyland) NTMLE (Terance Mann) |
| Boston Celtics | $193,336,448 | $4,405,448 | Above second apron | None |
| Brooklyn Nets | $175,862,770 | -$2,269,230 | First apron hard cap | S&T (Shake Milton); ETPE (D’Angelo Russell/Maxwell Lewis) |
| Charlotte Hornets | $167,243,306 | -$10,888,694 | First apron hard cap | Cash out (DEN, SAS); S&T (Duane Washington Jr., DaQuan Jeffries, Charlie Brown Jr.); ETPE (Josh Okogie, Jusuf Nurkić) |
| Chicago Bulls | $168,731,854 | -$9,400,146 | First apron hard cap | NTMLE (Jalen Smith) |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | $172,806,610 | -$5,325,390 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (De’Andre Hunter) |
| Dallas Mavericks | $178.808,852 | -$51,148 | First apron hard cap | S&T (Klay Thompson) NTMLE (Naji Marshall) ETPE (Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, Max Christie) |
| Denver Nuggets | $183,774,315 | -$5,156,685 | Second apron hard cap | TMLE (Dario Šarić) |
| Detroit Pistons | $142,808,943 | -$35,323,057 | Under first apron; Second apron hard cap | Cash out (GSW, PHI) |
| Golden State Warriors | $176,999,638 | -$1,132,362 | First apron hard cap | NTMLE (De’Anthony Melton); S&T (Buddy Hield, Kyle Anderson); ETPE (Dennis Schröder, Jimmy Butler) |
| Houston Rockets | $170,921,311 | -$7,210,689 | First apron hard cap | Preexisting TPE (Kevin Porter Jr. for Adrian Griffin) BAE (Aaron Holiday) NTMLE (Jaden Springer, Cody Zeller, Nate Williams) |
| Indiana Pacers | $171,149,739 | -$6,982,261 | Under first apron; Second apron hard cap | Cash out (SAS, TOR) |
| LA Clippers | $170,720,454 | -$7,411,546 | First apron hard cap | NTMLE (Derrick Jones Jr., Jordan Miller) ETPE (Bogdanović, MarJon Beauchamp) |
| Los Angeles Lakers | $188,037,153 | -$893,647 | Second apron hard cap | Aggregation (Maxi Kleber) |
| Memphis Grizzlies | $166,510,487 | -$11,621,513 | First apron hard cap | NTMLE (Scottie Pippen Jr., Jay Huff) ETPE (Johnny Davis) |
| Miami Heat | $176,170,988 | -$1,961,012 | First apron hard cap | NTMLE (Kyle Anderson) |
| Milwaukee Bucks | $185,621,334 | -$3,309,666 | Second apron hard cap | Cash out (NYK, SAS, WAS) |
| Minnesota Timberwolves | $205,543,620 | $16,612,620 | Above second apron | None |
| New Orleans Pelicans | $172,264,604 | -$5,867,396 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (Dejounte Murray) NTMLE (Kelly Olynyk) |
| New York Knicks | $188,390,873 | -$540,127 | Second apron hard cap | Aggregation (Mikal Bridges, Karl-Anthony Towns) |
| Oklahoma City Thunder | $167,068,467 | -$11,063,533 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (Alex Caruso) |
| Orlando Magic | $152,959,238 | -$25,172,762 | Under first apron | None |
| Philadelphia 76ers | $170,359,860 | -$7,772,140 | Under first apron | None |
| Phoenix Suns | $214,871,340 | $25,940,340 | Above second apron | None |
| Portland Trail Blazers | $168,712,097 | -$9,419,903 | Under first apron | None |
| Sacramento Kings | $171,883,768 | -$6,248,232 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Jake LaRavia); S&T (DeMar DeRozan) |
| San Antonio Spurs | $167,638,808 | -$10,493,192 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (De’Aaron Fox) |
| Toronto Raptors | $176,320,407 | -$1,811,593 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (Sasha Vezenkov, PJ Tucker) |
| Utah Jazz | $154,923,317 | -$23,208,683 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (Russell Westbrook, PJ Tucker) |
| Washington Wizards | $177,224,214 | -$907,786 | First apron hard cap | ETPE (Malcolm Brogdon, Marcus Smart); NTMLE (Saddiq Bey, Justin Champagnie) |
Check back for updates as teams make transactions throughout the year.
Email Eric Pincus at eric.pincus@gmail.com and follow him on X/Twitter @EricPincus.
(Updated on 3/7/25)
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