The cap, the tax and the aprons.
The five numbers that run every NBA front office in 2026-27, what each one stops you from doing, and how salary matching in trades actually works.
By the Hoop Simulator team · October 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Every trade rumor this season runs into the same five numbers. The NBA set them in the summer, and they decide who can sign whom, who can take back salary in a trade, and who pays a bill on top of payroll. These are the exact numbers our GM simulator and trade simulator enforce.
The 2026-27 numbers
| Line | 2026-27 | What happens above it |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum team salary | $148.47M | Teams below it pay the shortfall to their players |
| Salary cap | $164.96M | No signing free agents with cap space; you need an exception |
| Luxury tax | $200.43M | A tax bill on every dollar over the line |
| First apron | $209.01M | Trades: take back at most 110% of outgoing salary; smaller mid-level |
| Second apron | $221.69M | Can't take back more salary than you send, can't combine contracts, no mid-level |
The gap from the cap to the second apron is $56.73M. Almost every contender lives somewhere in that band, which is why the aprons, not the cap, are what shape the trade market now.
The cap is soft
The NBA cap is a soft cap. Going over it is allowed and normal: Bird rights let a team re-sign its own players for any amount, rookie contracts and minimum deals always fit, and trades let teams swap salary. What the cap really controls is free agency. A team under it can sign outside players with its space; a team over it can only use exceptions such as the mid-level.
The tax is a bill, not a wall
Every dollar of payroll above $200.43M costs extra at the end of the season. The rate climbs in brackets of a little over $5 million: $1.50 per dollar in the first bracket, then $1.75, $2.50, $3.25, and more after that. Teams that paid tax in three of the previous four seasons pay the higher repeater rates. That's why a team $8.59M over the tax line can owe a bill bigger than a starter's salary.
The aprons are walls
The 2023 labor deal added two aprons that do what the tax doesn't: they take tools away. Above the first apron a team can't take back more than 110% of the salary it sends in a trade, can't receive a player in a sign-and-trade and gets a smaller mid-level exception. Above the second apron it can't take back more salary than it sends at all, can't combine two contracts to trade for one bigger one, can't use cash in trades, and loses the mid-level entirely. A team above it in three of five seasons also has a future first-round pick moved to the end of the round.
Salary matching in a trade
A team over the cap after a trade has to match salaries. Below the first apron, how much it can take back depends on how much it sends out:
| Salary sent out | Below 1st apron | Over 1st apron (110%) | Over 2nd apron |
|---|---|---|---|
| $5M | $10.25M | $5.5M | $5M |
| $15M | $22.5M | $16.5M | $15M |
| $30M | $37.75M | $33M | $30M |
| $50M | $62.75M | $55M | $50M |
The three bands below the first apron: up to $7.5M out, you can take back 200% plus $250,000; from $7.5M to $29M, the outgoing amount plus $7.5M; above $29M, 125% plus $250,000. A team that finishes the trade under the cap doesn't need to match at all. Our trade simulator checks every team in a deal against these lines and tells you which rule a trade breaks.
Try it on a real team
Pick a contender in the GM simulator and the cap tab shows its payroll against each line, the tax bill and what it can still do. In the trade simulator, try to add salary to a second-apron team: it will tell you no, and why.
Sources
Cap, tax and apron figures: the NBA's announcement of the 2026-27 salary cap. Matching bands, apron restrictions and tax rates: the 2023 collective bargaining agreement as widely reported. Simplified: we leave out trade exceptions, the exact bracket width and a few rarely used exceptions.