Author: Luke Adams

The mid-level exception and bi-annual exception are the two key tools that an over-the-cap team typically has at its disposal to sign free agents from other clubs — or to re-sign one of its own free agents, if the player’s Bird rights aren’t available or aren’t sufficient.

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.

As such, we don’t know yet exactly what those exceptions will be worth in 2025/26, but we can make an educated estimate. The NBA’s most recent projection for ’25/26 called for a cap of $154,647,000, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s mid-level and bi-annual exceptions.

[RELATED: Maximum Salary Projections For 2025/26]

[RELATED: Minimum Salary Projections For 2025/26]

Based on a $154,647,000 cap, here’s what the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions would look like in 2025/26:

Mid-Level Exception

The standard mid-level exception is available to over-the-cap teams who haven’t dipped below the cap to use room and whose team salary remains below the first tax apron. It can run for up to four years, with 5% annual raises. Once a team uses the standard/non-taxpayer MLE, that team is hard-capped at the first tax apron for the rest of the league year.

[RELATED: Hoops Rumors Glossary: Mid-Level Exception]

The taxpayer mid-level exception is for a team whose salary is between the first and second tax aprons, or teams who want the flexibility to surpass the first apron later. It can run for up to two years, with 5% annual raises. Once a team uses the taxpayer MLE, that team is hard-capped at the second tax apron for the rest of the league year.

The room exception is for teams who go under the cap and use their space. Once they’ve used all their cap room, they can use this version of the mid-level exception, which runs for up to three years with 5% annual raises.

Teams can use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception or the room exception – but not the taxpayer mid-level – to acquire a player via trade or waiver claim. The taxpayer MLE can only be used to sign players to new contracts.

Bi-Annual Exception

The bi-annual exception – which can be used for contracts up to two years, with a 5% raise after year one – is only available to teams that are over the cap and below the first tax apron.

It can also only be used once every two years, which will disqualify the Rockets and Clippers from using it in 2025/26, since Houston and Los Angeles have used their BAEs in 2024/25.

The NBA’s minimum salary is one of several figures that changes from year to year at the same rate as the league’s salary cap. If the cap increases by 5% from one season to the next, the minimum salary will rise by the same amount.

That means that even though we don’t know yet exactly where the minimum salaries will end up for the 2025/26 season, we can make an educated estimate. The NBA’s most recent projection for ’25/26 called for a $154,647,000 cap (the maximum allowable 10% increase), which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s minimum salaries.

[RELATED: NBA Minimum Salaries For 2024/25]

A player’s minimum salary is determined in part by how much NBA experience he has — a veteran who has 10+ seasons under his belt is eligible for a significantly higher minimum salary than a rookie would be.

Based on the current 2025/26 cap estimate, next year’s rookie minimum salary will surpass $1.27MM, while the minimum for a veteran with 10+ years of service will exceed $3.63MM.

Here are the current minimum salary projections for the 2025/26 season, using a $154,647,000 cap:

It’s worth noting that these figures will only apply to players who sign new minimum-salary contracts in 2025/26. The ’25/26 salaries for players with multiyear minimum deals will look a little different. For example, a rookie who signed a two-year deal worth the minimum ahead of the 2024/25 season would have a second-year salary of $1,955,377 for ’25/26, as we outline here.

We’ll update these projections later in the season if the NBA adjusts its cap estimate for the 2025/26 season, and then again next year when the league officially sets the ’25/26 cap.

Although a number of big-money free agent contracts were completed over the summer, several of the most lucrative deals signed by players so far in 2024/25 have been contract extensions. And many of those extensions have been maximum-salary deals.

[RELATED: 2024/25 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]

Because those extensions won’t go into effect until at least the 2025/26 season and the NBA won’t finalize the ’25/26 salary cap until next summer, we can only ballpark what many of year’s maximum-salary contracts will look like based on the league’s latest cap estimates.

The NBA’s most recent projection for ’25/26 called for a $154,647,000 cap, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s maximum salaries. That would represent a 10% increase on this season’s cap, which is the maximum allowable increase for one year league year to the next.

Listed below are the early maximum-salary projections for 2025/26.

The first chart shows the maximum salaries for a player re-signing with his own team — a player’s previous club can offer five years instead of four, and 8% annual raises instead of 5% raises. The second chart shows the maximum salaries for a player signing with a new team.

A player’s maximum salary is generally determined by his years of NBA experience, so there’s a wide gap between potential earnings for younger and older players. Unless they qualify for a more lucrative extension by meeting certain performance criteria, players with no more than six years of NBA experience are limited to a starting salary worth up to 25% of the cap. For players with seven to nine years of experience, that number is 30%. For players with 10 or more years of experience, it’s 35%.

Here are the the early max-salary projections for 2025/26:

A player re-signing with his own team (8% annual raises, up to five years):

The “6 years or less” column here is what the new extensions for Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, and Franz Wagner will look like if none of them make an All-NBA team in 2025. All four players have Rose Rule language in their contracts, however, and could move up to the 30% max column (“7-9 years”) if certain performance criteria are met.

The 30% max column will also apply to players who reach the free agent market next summer with between seven and nine years of NBA experience under their belts. That would be Brandon Ingram‘s maximum contract with his current team, for instance.

The third column (35%) will apply to the super-max extension signed by Celtics star Jayson Tatum or to a player with 10+ years of NBA service who reaches free agency next summer, such as Mavericks star Kyrie Irving.

A player signing with a new team (5% annual raises, up to four years):

If a player changes teams as a free agent, he doesn’t have access to a fifth year or 8% raises. So if someone like Alperen Sengun were to sign an offer sheet with a new team next summer, his maximum contract would be a four-year deal projected to be worth just over $166MM.

If a veteran free agent with between seven and nine years of NBA experience – such as Ingram – wants to change teams in 2025, he would be able to sign a four-year contract worth up to a projected $199.5MM.

Irving or another veteran with 10+ years of experience would be able to earn up to $232.7MM across four years if they change teams as free agents in 2025.

Although it happened with Paul George during the 2024 offseason, it’s relatively rare for a player with that many years of experience to sign a four-year, maximum-salary contract with a new team, especially since some of those older stars (like LeBron James) would be ineligible to sign a four-year max deal due to the Over-38 rule.