NBA Official: New Season Salary Cap Set at $164.961 Million, Luxury Tax Line and Mid-Level Exception Data Released

On July 1, Beijing time, the NBA officially announced today that the league's salary cap for the 2026-27 season is set at $164.961 million, and the luxury tax threshold for this season is $200.428 million.

The salary cap and luxury tax line will take effect at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, July 1. Teams may begin negotiations with all free agents as of 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time today, which is six hours earlier than the start of the league's "moratorium period." The moratorium will last until 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, July 6.

Salary-related standards for the 2026-27 season—

Minimum team salary floor: $148.465 million

First apron: $209.015 million

Second apron: $221.686 million

The collective bargaining agreement divides three different mid-level exception provisions based on team salary tiers. The amounts for each mid-level exception in the 2026-27 season are as follows:

Non-taxpaying team mid-level exception: $15.044 million

Taxpaying team mid-level exception: $6.064 million

Team with cap space mid-level exception: $9.366 million