Which NBA teams are hard-capped for 2023-24?
We are nearly three weeks into 2023 NBA Free Agency. According to Spotrac, there have been 230 signings–including extensions–that have been worth approximately $4.36 billion dollars, including $4.08 billion in total guarantees and $3.65 billion guaranteed at signing.
There are myriad ways teams can sign free agents, but it depends on how much money a team has on its total payroll and, in very particular instances, the types of contracts it gave to players in the previous season.
Ahead of free agency, the salary cap was set at $136,021,000 with a $165,294,000 luxury tax threshold, a 10 percent raise from the $150.267 million salary cap and $172.346 million luxury tax from 2022-23.
The first tax apron, originally implemented in the 2011 CBA (set at $4M above the tax at the time), remains, and it will be set about $7.1 million ($172,346,000) above the tax for the 2023-24 season. Though in the recently-signed 2023 CBA, a second-apron–beginning $17.5 million above the tax–has been implemented.
Signing players to certain contracts will “hard cap” teams at those thresholds, meaning they cannot exceed said thresholds under any circumstance for the entire league year. Being over these dollar amounts significantly limits team-building prerogatives.
In 2023-24, for a team to trigger the first hard cap, meaning they will not be able to exceed the $172.346 million first tax apron, a team must do at least one of the following:
- Sign a player via sign-and-trade
- i.e. Dallas Mavericks are hard-capped since they signed-and-traded for Grant Williams; the Spurs, who received Reggie Bullock as part of the deal, are not hard-capped, since they did not sign Bullock.
- Use any portion of the $4,516,000 million bi-annual exception to sign one or more players.
- Use greater than the taxpayer’s portion (up to two years; worth $5MM for ’23-24) of the $12,405,000 mid-level exception to sign one or more players.
- Take back more than 110 percent of the salary it sends out in a trade (only applies to teams over the cap).
For a team to trigger the $182.794 million second hard cap, it must:
- Use any portion of the taxpayer’s mid-level exception ($5,000,000) to sign one or more players.
Let’s go over the teams that are hard-capped at the first apron for the 2023-24 season, as of this writing:
Chicago Bulls
- Used $6,190,476 of non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign to Jevon Carter.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Used $8.8MM of NTMLE to sign Georges Niang
- Used $2,439,025 of bi-annual exception to sign Ty Jerome
- Acquired Max Strus via sign-and-trade for four years, $63 million
Dallas Mavericks
- Acquired Williams via sign-and-trade
- Used $7MM of NTMLE to sign Seth Curry ($4MM) and Dante Exum ($3MM)
Houston Rockets
- Acquired Dillon Brooks via sign-and-trade for four years, $86 million
Los Angeles Lakers
- Used all of its $4.516 million BAE to sign Taurean Prince
- Used $10,405,000 of NTMLE to sign Gabe Vincent
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Used $9MM of its NTMLE to sign Shake Milton ($5MM) and Troy Brown Jr. ($4MM)
New Orleans Pelicans
- Used $1,801,769 of MLE to sign E.J. Liddell, but signed to a four-year deal (TPMLE only goes up to two years)
New York Knicks
- Used $11,650,000 of NTMLE to sign Donte DiVincenzo
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Took back more than 110 percent of outgoing salary ($1.1MM) for Patty Mills ($6,802,950)
Toronto Raptors
- Used full NTMLE to sign Dennis Schroder
- Used full BAE to sign Jalen McDaniels
The Denver Nuggets are currently the only team hard-capped at the second apron, using their full tax-payer mid-level exception to sign Reggie Jackson.
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