The salary cap for the 2026/27 NBA league year has officially been set, with the league announcing that the cap will be $164,961,000, a 6.7% increase on last year’s number.
Under the league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the values of the mid-level, room, and bi-annual exceptions are tied to the salary cap and the percentage that it shifts in a given year. Here’s how that math works:
- Non-taxpayer mid-level exception: Worth 9.12% of salary cap.
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: Increases at the same rate as the salary cap.
- Room exception: Worth 5.678% of the salary cap.
- Bi-annual exception: Worth 3.32% of the salary cap.
Listed below are the maximum annual and total values of each of these exceptions, along with a brief explanation of how they work and which teams will have access to them. For more information, check out glossary entries on the mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception.
Mid-Level Exception (Non-Taxpayer):
Year Salary 2026/27 $15,044,000 2027/28 $15,796,200 2028/29 $16,548,400 2029/30 $17,300,600 Total $64,689,200The non-taxpayer mid-level exception is the primary tool available for over-the-cap teams to add free agents. As long as a team hasn’t dipped below the cap to use cap space and doesn’t go over the first tax apron ($209,015,000) for the rest of the league year, it can use this MLE, which runs for up to four years with 5% annual raises.
This exception can also be used to acquire players via trade or waiver claim.
Mid-Level Exception (Taxpayer):
Year Salary 2026/27 $6,064,000 2027/28 $6,367,200 Total $12,431,200This lesser form of the mid-level exception is capped at two years and can only be used to sign free agents, not to acquire players via trade or waiver claim. It includes a maximum raise of 5% for the second season.
This exception is essentially available to teams who expect their total salaries to fall between the first tax apron and the second apron ($221,686,000). It’s not available to teams above the second tax apron, so a team that does use it becomes hard-capped at that second apron. A team that uses more than $6,064,000 of its mid-level exception will be hard-capped at the first apron.
Room Exception:
Year Salary 2026/27 $9,366,000 2027/28 $9,834,300 2028/29 $10,302,600 Total $29,502,900Although this is also a mid-level exception of sorts, it’s colloquially known as the “room” exception, since it’s only available to teams that go below the cap and use their cap room.
If a club goes under the cap, it loses its full mid-level exception, but gets this smaller room exception, which allows the team to go over the cap to sign a player once that team has used up all its cap space.
The room exception can be used to sign players for up to three years, with 5% annual raises. It can also be used to acquire players via trade or waiver claim.
Bi-Annual Exception:
Year Salary 2026/27 $5,477,000 2027/28 $5,750,850 Total $11,227,850The bi-annual exception, as its name suggests, is only available to teams once every two years. Of the NBA’s 30 clubs, five – the Hornets, Pistons, Lakers, Jazz, and Wizards – used it in 2025/26, so they won’t have access to it in ’26/27. The league’s other 25 teams could all theoretically use it this season.
Still, even if a team didn’t use its BAE in ’25/26, that club doesn’t necessarily have access to it for the coming year. As is the case with the non-taxpayer MLE, this exception disappears once a team goes under the cap to use room. It’s also not available to teams over the first tax apron — using the BAE creates a hard cap at that apron.
The BAE can be used to sign players for up to two years, with a 5% raise after year one. It can also be used to acquire players via trade or waiver claim.
