View source for NBA:Salary Cap

{{1TC NBA rules}}

The salary cap is the maximum amount each team can spend each season on player salaries and cap hits combined.

== The cap ==

'''$60,000,000.''' The same for every team, binding '''at all times''' including the off-season. There is no window in which you may exceed it.

This is the one constraint with no seasonal relief: [[NBA:Rosters#When the limits bind|roster size]] stops applying between opening days, the cap never does.

== What counts against it ==

Every player you are paying counts his '''full salary''', wherever he sits — active, [[NBA:G League|G League]], or [[NBA:Injured Reserve|Injured Reserve]].

Assigning a player to the G League or moving him to IR frees an [[NBA:Rosters#Roster size|active roster spot]], never cap space.

Waived players are the only case where a contract counts for less than its full value.

== Calculating your cap space ==

<pre style="white-space:pre; overflow-x:auto">
Cap Space = Salary Cap − Total Salary − Cap Hits
</pre>

'''Total Salary''' is your players only — active, G League, and IR. It does '''not''' include cap hits, which are counted separately.

From the [[NBA:Rosters#A complete example|example roster]]:

<pre style="white-space:pre; overflow-x:auto">
  $58,467,800   15 player salaries
+  $1,400,000   4 cap hits
+    $132,200   cap space
= $60,000,000   salary cap
</pre>

== Cap hits ==

Money you owe for a player no longer on your roster. Each has a cause, an amount, and an end year — dead money rolls off.

{| class="wikitable"
! Cause
! Amount
! Duration
|-
| [[NBA:Waivers|Waiving a player]]
| 40% of salary
| Through the last '''guaranteed''' year
|-
| [[NBA:Waivers#Exceptions|Waiving a draft-and-stash player]] before he comes over
| 40% of salary
| One year
|-
| [[NBA:Free Agency|Bidding over the cap in free agency]]
| 40% of the contract you offered
| One year
|}

The stashed-player case is separate because a stashed contract has [[NBA:Contracts#Draft-and-stash|no end date]] to calculate against.

=== Which years ===

Through your last '''guaranteed''' year — which includes any '''option you have exercised''', since exercising guarantees that season — stopping at the first undecided option. [[NBA:Waivers#Which years|Waivers]] has the calculation and worked examples.

=== How a waiver hit lands ===

'''The 40% is assumed the moment the waiver is posted''', not when the player clears, so waiving frees 60% of the salary immediately. A player claimed by another team costs you nothing at all.

The [[NBA:Rosters#Roster size|roster spot frees too]], and it frees in full — check the cap number rather than assuming the money followed the spot.

== Timing ==

'''Drafted players count from selection.''' A pick is signed the moment it is posted, so his slot salary lands on your cap immediately. Enter the [[NBA:Draft|draft]] already holding room for every pick you intend to make.

'''You may not bid more than your cap space.''' An over-cap bid that wins anyway costs you 40% of the contract you offered, for a year, and you do not get the player. See [[NBA:Free Agency#If an over-cap bid wins anyway|Free Agency]].

'''The off-season changes nothing.''' Options, re-signs, the draft, and free agency all happen under the same ceiling.

== Contract integrity ==

Contracts are fixed.

{{Important|Altering a player's salary or years is grounds for immediate removal from the league. If a figure looks wrong, contact [[NBA:League Structure#Commissioner and TAB|TAB]] rather than adjusting it.}}

== See also ==

* [[NBA:Rosters|Rosters]] — the three roster counts and the summary block
* [[NBA:Contracts|Contracts]] — how salary and years are written
* [[NBA:Waivers|Waivers]] — the 48-hour process and the 40% hit
* [[NBA:Free Agency|Free Agency]] — bidding within your space
* [[NBA:Re-Signing|Re-Signing]] — the $11,500,000 re-sign maximum

[[Category:1TC NBA rules]]