How Teams Are Using 2025/26 Mid-Level Exceptions
In addition to receiving more than $154MM in cap room and being allowed to surpass that threshold in order to sign players using Bird Rights or the minimum salary exception, each NBA team also receives a mid-level exception. The value of this exception varies depending on a club’s total team salary.
A team that goes under the cap to use its available cap room, for instance, receives a form of the MLE known as the room exception. An over-the-cap team receives the full mid-level exception, unless that team is also over the first tax apron ($195,945,000), in which case it gets a modest “taxpayer” version of the MLE. A team whose salary is over the second tax apron ($207,824,000) isn’t permitted to use its mid-level at all.
We detailed the exact values of each form of mid-level exception earlier this offseason, but here’s a quick breakdown:
- Room exception: Can be used for contracts up to three years, with a starting salary worth up to $8,781,000.
- Full/non-taxpayer mid-level exception: Can be used for contracts up to four years, with a starting salary worth up to $14,104,000.
- Note: Though its name suggests otherwise, using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception doesn’t mean a team can’t or won’t be above the luxury tax line ($187,895,000) at season’s end; it simply means the team’s total salary can’t surpass the first tax apron ($195,945,000).
- Taxpayer mid-level exception: Can be used for contracts up to two years, with a starting salary worth up to $5,685,000.
Now that most of the NBA’s teams have used up their cap space, it’s worth keeping an eye on which clubs still have part or all of their mid-level exceptions available, which we’ll do in the space below.
This list will be kept up to date throughout the 2025/26 league year, with new MLE deals added once those signings (or trades) are officially completed and we confirm the contract details.
Note: After the 2026 trade deadline, the value of the exceptions below will begin to prorate downward.
Here’s where things currently stand:
Mid-Level Exception:
Non-taxpayer: $14,104,000
Taxpayer: $5,685,000
Teams marked with an asterisk (*) technically have access to the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception but aren’t currently in position to use the entire thing without surpassing the first tax apron.
Atlanta Hawks
- Used: $11,000,000 (Luke Kennard)
Boston Celtics
- Used: $0
Charlotte Hornets
- Used: $6,670,882 (Ousmane Dieng); $7,000,000 (Tyus Jones)
Note: Dieng and Jones were acquired in trades.
Chicago Bulls
- Used: $10,107,163 (Jaden Ivey)
Note: Ivey was acquired via trade.
Cleveland Cavaliers
- Used: $0
- The Cavaliers are operating above the second apron and don’t currently have access to a mid-level exception.
Dallas Mavericks
- Used: $5,685,000 (D’Angelo Russell)
Denver Nuggets
- Used: $0 *
Detroit Pistons
- Used: $14,104,000 (Caris LeVert)
Golden State Warriors
- Used: $5,685,000 (Al Horford)
- The Warriors are operating above the first apron and can’t currently use more than the taxpayer portion of the MLE.
Houston Rockets
- Used: $12,700,000 (Dorian Finney-Smith)
Indiana Pacers
- Used: $2,654,880 (Kobe Brown); $601,553 (Quenton Jackson)
Note: Brown was acquired in a trade.
Los Angeles Clippers
- Used: $8,750,000 (Brook Lopez); $5,354,000 (Bradley Beal)
Los Angeles Lakers
- Used: $8,104,000 (Deandre Ayton); $6,000,000 (Jake LaRavia)
Miami Heat
- Used: $395,029 (Myron Gardner)
Minnesota Timberwolves
- Used: $0
New Orleans Pelicans
- Used: $8,000,000 (Kevon Looney); $724,598 (Bryce McGowens)
New York Knicks
- Used: $5,500,000 (Guerschon Yabusele)
- The Knicks are operating above the first apron and can’t currently use more than the taxpayer portion of the MLE.
Oklahoma City Thunder
- Used: $0 *
Orlando Magic
- Used: $7,000,000 (Tyus Jones)
Philadelphia 76ers
- Used: $3,415,000 (Dominick Barlow)
Phoenix Suns
- Used: $0 *
Portland Trail Blazers
- Used: $14,104,000 (Damian Lillard)
Sacramento Kings
- Used: $871,000 (Dylan Cardwell)
San Antonio Spurs
- Used: $11,000,000 (Luke Kornet)
Toronto Raptors
- Used: $2,221,677 (Trayce Jackson-Davis)
Note: Jackson-Davis was acquired via trade.
Utah Jazz
- Used: $9,219,512 (Kyle Anderson)
Note: Anderson was acquired via trade.
Washington Wizards
- Used: $5,685,000 (D’Angelo Russell); $2,857,143 (Tristan Vukcevic); $1,131,970 (Jamir Watkins)
Note: Russell was acquired via trade.
Room Exception:
Available: $8,781,000
Brooklyn Nets
- Used: $0
Memphis Grizzlies
- Used: $8,781,000 (Ty Jerome)
Milwaukee Bucks
- Used: $5,134,000 (Kevin Porter Jr.)
Summer League Notes: Flagg, C. Porter, Sarr, Raptors
The Mavericks are shutting down No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg for the rest of Summer League after he appeared in the team’s first two games in Las Vegas, reports NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter video link).
Flagg opened his Summer League career on Thursday with a 5-of-21 performance that he referred to as “one of the worst games of my life,” but showed on Saturday why he was considered the consensus top prospect in the 2025 draft class, piling up 31 of Dallas’ 69 points in a loss to San Antonio.
Having exhibited on Saturday that he has little left to prove in Las Vegas, Flagg will shift his focus to training camp in the fall, with the Mavericks not looking to risk an injury to a player who figures to be a key part of their lineup when the regular season gets underway.
Here are a few more Summer League items of interest:
- Third-year guard Craig Porter Jr., who will be vying for rotation minutes in Cleveland this fall, was expected to be one of the leaders of the Cavaliers‘ Summer League team, but a left hamstring injury sidelined him on Sunday and has rendered his availability for the rest of the Vegas League uncertain, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscription required).
- Wizards big man Alex Sarr, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 draft, set a new Summer League record on Sunday by blocking eight shots, per Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. After averaging a modest 6.5 rebounds per game as a rookie, the seven-foot Sarr showed promise on that front Sunday too, grabbing 12 boards.
- Eric Koreen of The Athletic shares five Raptors-related observations from the team’s first two Summer League games, singling out second-year big man Ulrich Chomche, who is returning from an ACL injury, and second-year forward Jonathan Mogbo, who will be fighting to retain his rotation spot this fall, as a couple players who have stood out in Toronto’s two victories.
- A panel of ESPN insiders share their early Summer League observations on several members of the 2025 rookie class, including Flagg, Dylan Harper, Noa Essengue, and Nique Clifford.
Hornets, Spencer Dinwiddie Finalize One-Year Deal
July 13: The Dinwiddie signing is official, Rod Boone of the Charlotte Observer notes (via Twitter).
July 2: Free agent point guard Spencer Dinwiddie has agreed to sign a one-year contract with the Hornets, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Charania’s report doesn’t include any salary details, but I’d expect it’ll be a veteran’s minimum deal for Dinwiddie, who played for the minimum last season as well, as a member of the Mavericks.
Dinwiddie, 32, played a more significant role than expected in Dallas due to the Luka Doncic trade and a series of injuries affecting guards like Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum. He was one of the only Mavs players who made it through the season without dealing with any major health issues.
In 79 games (30 starts), Dinwiddie averaged 11.0 points, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 rebounds in 27.0 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .416/.334/.802. All of those numbers were in the ballpark of his career rates.
Charlotte entered the offseason with LaMelo Ball as the only point guard on a guaranteed contract for next season and didn’t address this position in last week’s draft, but have been busy adding backcourt depth since then. The Hornets made a trade for combo guard Collin Sexton and agreed to re-sign point guard Tre Mann before also agreeing to terms with Dinwiddie.
A report over the weekend indicated that the Hornets were considering making a run at Chris Paul, a North Carolina native, as they sought a veteran point guard. However, the 12-time All-Star wants to play as close to his home in Los Angeles as possible, prompting Charlotte to pivot to other targets and ultimately land on Dinwiddie.
Hoops Rumors Glossary: Exhibit 10 Contract
After the NBA’s biggest-name free agents come off the board, many teams shift their focus to filling out their training camp rosters. Teams can only carry 15 players on NBA contracts (plus three on two-way deals) during the regular season, but their maximum roster size increases to 21 players in the offseason, allowing clubs to bring a few extra players to camp to audition for a place on the regular season roster or a spot on the team’s G League affiliate.
Many of those players will sign a contract with an Exhibit 10 clause. Introduced in the NBA’s 2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement, Exhibit 10 contracts are one-year deals worth the minimum salary. They don’t come with any compensation protection, but can include an optional bonus worth as little as $5K and – in 2025/26 – as much as $85,300.
Let’s say an undrafted rookie signs an Exhibit 10 contract with the Sixers that includes a $85,300 bonus. He attends camp with the Sixers, but is waived before the regular season begins, with Philadelphia designating him an affiliate player in order to retain his G League rights. In that scenario, if the rookie elects to play in the G League for the Delaware Blue Coats and remains with the club for 60 days, he’d be entitled to his full $85,300 bonus.
The player wouldn’t receive that bonus if he opts to sign with a team overseas after being waived by the Sixers. Essentially, the Exhibit 10 bonus serves as an incentive for players to stick with their team’s G League affiliate — they must spend at least 60 days with the NBAGL club in order to get their bonus.
There’s another scenario in which that undrafted rookie who signs an Exhibit 10 deal with the Sixers would receive his $85,300. Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted into two-way contracts before the regular season begins, so if Philadelphia opted to do that, the $85,300 bonus would turn into a salary guarantee for the player. As soon as his contract becomes a two-way deal, he’s entitled to that bonus, even if the 76ers were to waive him a week later.
The maximum Exhibit 10 bonus will increase in future seasons at the same rate as the NBA salary cap. It began at $75,000 in 2023/24, and because the cap has risen since then by about 13.7%, the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus has increased by the same percentage, from $75,000 to $85,300.
The latest cap projection for 2026/27 is calling for a 7% increase. In that scenario, the maximum Exhibit 10 bonus would rise by another 7% too and would be worth $91,200.
Only teams with a G League affiliate can include an Exhibit 10 bonus in a contract, but that’s no longer an issue now that all 30 NBA clubs have an NBAGL affiliate of their own.
Exhibit 10 contracts don’t count against a team’s salary cap during the offseason. However, they would begin to count against the cap if a team decides to keep a player on an Exhibit 10 contract into the regular season, essentially converting his deal to a standard one-year, minimum-salary deal.
Although they’re not technically required to, virtually every Exhibit 10 contract also contains an Exhibit 9 clause, which provides a team protections when a player on a non-guaranteed training camp contract suffers an injury. If a team wants to sign a player to a deal that includes both an Exhibit 9 and Exhibit 10 clause, it must already be carrying at least 14 players on standard contracts.
Here are a few more notes relating to Exhibit 10 contracts:
- A team can’t carry more than six Exhibit 10 contracts at a time.
- An Exhibit 10 contract can only be converted to a two-way deal before the regular season begins. The deadline is the day before the regular season opener.
- An Exhibit 10 contract that gets converted to a two-way deal can subsequently be converted into a standard NBA contract.
- An Exhibit 10 bonus earned by a player who ends up in the G League or on a two-way contract isn’t counted toward the NBA team’s total salary.
Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.
Earlier versions of this post were published in 2018, 2019, and 2023.
Southeast Notes: Knueppel, Bane, Christopher, Risacher, Johnson
After Cooper Flagg referred to his Thursday Summer League debut as “one of the worst games of my life,” his former Duke teammate Kon Knueppel conveyed a similar sentiment in the wake of a 1-of-8 performance from the field on Friday in his first Summer League game with the Hornets.
“Probably one of the worst games I’ve played in a while,” Knueppel said, per Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer. “I just couldn’t get one to go. Didn’t feel great, especially missing free throws. But I thought I did a good job defensively, held my own. I’ve got to be a little smarter with the ball. A couple of bad turnovers but it’s good to get my feet underneath me a little bit and get ready for the next game.”
Although Knueppel struggled to score, Charlotte’s other rookies made a positive first impression. Liam McNeeley, in particular, had a huge debut in Vegas, registering a team-high 22 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists in 28 minutes off the bench to help lead the Hornets to a win over Utah.
Here’s more from around the Southeast:
- Appearing on ESPN Today on Friday (YouTube link), Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley spoke glowingly about new addition Desmond Bane, stating that it’s “fantastic” to have the veteran wing on his roster. “He was in the gym the other day with Franz (Wagner) and Anthony Black already,” Mosley said. “Just his work ethic, his character, his care factor, just (the) leadership that he brings to the table is going to be so special for us.”
- Former first-round pick Josh Christopher, who spent last season on a two-way contract with Miami, was a late addition to the Hawks‘ Summer League roster, tweets Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The 6’4″ guard didn’t play at all on Friday in Atlanta’s first game in Vegas.
- During an ESPN interview at halftime of the Hawks‘ Friday game, general manager Onsi Saleh said the team “couldn’t be more happy” with the development of last year’s No. 1 overall pick Zaccharie Risacher, per Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com (Twitter link). “He has gotten his body so right, especially given how young he is,” Saleh said. “… I saw him in the summertime and he looked like he put on some more weight.”
- There weren’t a ton of bright spots for the Wizards in their blowout loss to Phoenix on Friday, but the play of No. 6 overall pick Tre Johnson was one of them, writes Josh Robbins of The Athletic. Johnson scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting and earned praise from coach J.J. Outlaw and his teammates for his Summer League debut. “He played aggressive. He played with a lot of confidence, which was expected,” second-year forward Kyshawn George said. “It was his first game, his first start. He’s only going to get better from here.”
Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Warriors, Horford, Melton, CP3, Beal, Knicks
While the Warriors are one of the only teams in the NBA that have yet to reach a contract agreement with a free agent this offseason, they’re viewed by numerous rival clubs as the “overwhelming favorite” to land Al Horford and De’Anthony Melton, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link).
Golden State already has over $170MM in guaranteed money on its books for nine players, so the outcome of Jonathan Kuminga‘s free agency will likely dictate what sort of offers the club can make to Horford and Melton.
Signing either of those veteran free agents with the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception likely won’t happen until there’s a resolution on Kuminga, since using that exception would hard-cap the Warriors at the $207.8MM second apron. That could open the door for a rival team to find a way to give Kuminga an offer sheet featuring a starting salary too high for Golden State to match without cost-cutting moves.
Here’s more from Stein and Fischer:
- Chris Paul would still like to play as close to his home in Los Angeles as possible, and the Clippers and Suns continue to weigh the possibility of signing him, per Stein and Fischer. However, if those clubs ultimately go in a different direction, it’s unclear what the 2025/26 season might hold for Paul. The Bucks have interest in the veteran point guard, but he has shown “little inclination” to entertain the idea of signing with an Eastern Conference team so far, according to The Stein Line duo. For what it’s worth, when Paul was asked recently how much longer he plans to play, he replied, “At the most, a year,” which suggests that retirement may not be entirely off the table.
- Bradley Beal is owed a 25% advance payment on his 2025/26 salary on July 15, Stein and Fischer say. While the veteran guard would get that money (roughly $13MM) even if he and the Suns agree to a buyout before then, it’s possible he’ll wait until after he receives that payment an agreement that would see him exit Phoenix.
- After missing out on James Borrego, the Knicks are also unlikely to land Bucks assistant Darvin Ham as they seek a lead assistant for Mike Brown‘s new staff, Stein and Fischer report. Stein noted last weekend that New York has interest in Ham, but Milwaukee appears unwilling to give the Knicks permission to speak to him for what would be a lateral move. Jay Triano, another Knicks target, is also off the table since he just signed a new contract with Dallas, Stein and Fischer add.
- The Bucks are considered likely to bring back forward Thanasis Antetokounmpo if Giannis Antetokounmpo remains in Milwaukee, according to Stein and Fischer. Thanasis missed all of the 2024/25 season due to an Achilles tear, but said in May that he has been medically cleared to return to action.
Top 45 Picks From 2025 Draft Have Signed NBA Contracts
It has been 16 days since the NBA’s 2025 draft wrapped up and just 11 days since those draftees were permitted to start signing contracts, but the majority of the ’25 draft class have already put pen to paper, finalizing standard or two-way deals with their respective teams.
As our tracker shows, all 30 first-round picks have signed their rookie scale contracts, and the top 15 picks in the second round are now under contract too. Outside of the top 45, four additional players – No. 48 pick Javon Small, No. 49 pick Tyrese Proctor, No. 50 pick Kobe Sanders, and No. 55 pick Lachlan Olbrich – have formally inked their first NBA contracts.
That leaves the following players who don’t yet have an NBA contract in place for the 2025/26 season:
Boston Celtics: Amari Williams- Milwaukee Bucks: Bogoljub Markovic
- New York Knicks: Mohamed Diawara
- Golden State Warriors: Alex Toohey
- Utah Jazz: John Tonje
- Indiana Pacers: Taelon Peter
- Golden State Warriors: Will Richard
- Boston Celtics: Max Shulga
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Saliou Niang
- Memphis Grizzlies: Jahmai Mashack
A number of these players are expected to end up on two-way deals — Jonathan Givony of ESPN (Twitter links) reported on draft night that both of these Celtics picks – Williams and Shulga – would be signing two-ways with Boston, for instance.
Still, not all of these guys will be on NBA rosters when the 2025/26 season begins. For example, the expectation is that Niang will spend next season in the EuroLeague with Virtus Bologna.
Players born outside the U.S. and/or ones who already have experience in non-NBA leagues are typically the best candidates to become overseas draft-and-stash players, so that could be an option for late second-rounders like Markovic, Diawara, and Toohey too. It’s hardly a given though. Post-draft reporting indicated that the Bucks and Knicks weren’t yet sure if Markovic and Diawara, respectively, will be stashed in Europe or if they’ll play stateside in ’25/26. Diawara, in particular, might have a chance to earn a standard contract for a New York team with little breathing room below its hard cap.
The other option for draft-and-stash players is to spend the season in the G League rather than in a league outside the U.S. Typically, at least one or two players go that route each season. That’s what Nikola Djurisic, the Hawks’ No. 43 overall pick a year ago, did in 2024/25 before signing his first NBA contract with Atlanta earlier this week.
We’ll be keeping a close eye on these players in the coming days and weeks, as many of them could end up finalizing their plans for 2025/26 either during the Las Vegas Summer League or shortly thereafter.
Cap Observations: Mutual Options, DFS, Incentives, Nuggets, BAE
After NBA teams spent the week officially finalizing many of the trades and free agent signings they'd agreed to during the July moratorium (or earlier), we're starting to get a clearer sense of trends emerging among the contracts signed in 2025/26, as well as a better idea of how teams are managing their cap exceptions and apron-related restrictions.
With that in mind, we're taking a closer look today at some of those contract trends, as well as a unique trade kicker, a cap-related decision facing the Nuggets, and a new use of the bi-annual exception.
Let's dive in...
Pacers Re-Sign Isaiah Jackson To Three-Year Deal
3:59 pm: Jackson has officially re-signed with the Pacers, the team announced today in a press release.
2:59 pm: The Pacers and restricted free agent center Isaiah Jackson have reached an agreement on a new three-year contract worth $21MM, agents Drew Morrison and Sam Rose tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
The 22nd overall pick in the 2021 draft, Jackson played a modest role through his first four seasons in Indiana, averaging 7.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks in 15.0 minutes per game across 163 appearances (31 starts). He missed nearly the entire 2024/25 season due to a right Achilles tear that he suffered in the sixth game of the season.
James Wiseman, who sustained a torn Achilles of his own in the Pacers’ regular season opener last October, appeared to have moved ahead of Jackson on the center depth chart entering the season. Given that context and the fact that Jackson is now coming off a major injury, it was somewhat surprising that the 23-year-old received a $6.4MM qualifying offer from Indiana last month to make him a restricted free agent.
That qualifying offer and this new three-year agreement are strong signals that the Pacers still believe in Jackson’s potential and feel good about where he’s at in his recovery from Achilles surgery.
The QO also makes more sense in retrospect knowing that Myles Turner‘s return to Indiana wasn’t the virtual lock that it seemed to be entering the free agent period. With Turner now in Milwaukee, Jackson will have an opportunity this fall to compete for minutes at center with Jay Huff, Tony Bradley, and Wiseman, who has returned to the Pacers on a new deal of his own.
Jackson’s new deal will give the Pacers 15 players on standard contracts for 2025/26, though Wiseman only has a partial guarantee and Bradley’s 2025/26 salary is non-guaranteed, so it’s possible those two big men will be battling for a single roster spot.
Contract Details: A. Jackson, K. Jones, Small, Sanders, Bagley
The Bucks originally had a July 7 deadline to decide whether or not they wanted to guarantee Andre Jackson‘s full $2.22MM salary for the 2025/26 season, but reporting on Monday indicated that the team had awarded the guard a partial guarantee on that figure as part of an agreement to move back his full salary guarantee date.
According to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link), Jackson received an $800K partial guarantee as part of that agreement, locking in a little over a third of his ’25/26 salary. His new guarantee date will be one day before the start of the regular season in the fall.
In other words, if Jackson earns a spot on the Bucks’ opening night roster, his full salary for next season will be locked in, but the team has a few more months to make that decision.
Here are a few more contract details from around the NBA:
- Kam Jones‘ four-year, $8.7MM contract with the Pacers is fully guaranteed in year one, with a 50% partial guarantee for year two, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). That means only about $2.35MM of Jones’ total salary will be guaranteed, including $1.27MM in year one. The 6’5″ guard was the 38th overall pick in last month’s draft.
- The two-way contract that No. 48 overall pick Javon Small signed with the Grizzlies will cover two seasons, per Scotto (Twitter link). That will put Small on track for restricted free agency in 2027 if he’s not promoted (or waived) before then.
- Kobe Sanders‘ two-way contract with the Clippers is also for two years, tweets Smith. Sanders was the No. 50 overall pick in the 2025 draft.
- Marvin Bagley III‘s one-year, minimum-salary deal with the Wizards is guaranteed, Hoops Rumors has learned. Washington now has 16 players on guaranteed contracts, plus Richaun Holmes and Justin Champagnie on non-guaranteed deals, so some roster moves will be necessary in D.C. at some point — the team won’t have to resolve that situation until the day before the regular season, however.