Hoops Rumors Originals

During each NBA league year, teams face limits on the amount of cash they can send out and receive in trades. Once they reach those limits, they’re no longer permitted to include cash in a deal until the following league year.

For the 2025/26 NBA season, the limit is $7,964,000.

The limits on sending and receiving cash are separate and aren’t dependent on one another, so if a team sends out $7,964,000 in one trade, then receives $7,964,000 in another, they aren’t back to square one — they’ve reached both limits for the season and can’t make another deal that includes cash.

Adding cash to a deal can serve multiple purposes. It can be a sweetener to encourage a team to make a deal in the first place – like when a club acquires a second-round pick in exchange for cash, or sends out an unwanted contract along with cash – or it can be a necessity to meet CBA requirements.

Teams operating above the second tax apron are prohibited from sending out cash in a trade. For the time being, that restriction applies to one teams: Cleveland. The Cavaliers could only send out cash if they dip below the second apron.

We’ll use the space below to track each team’s cash sent and received in trades for the 2025/26 season, updating the info as necessary leading up to the 2026 trade deadline and for the first part of the 2026 offseason next June. These totals will reset once the ’26/27 league year begins on July 1.

Atlanta Hawks

• Cash available to send: $6,464,000
  • Sent $1,500,000 to Timberwolves.
• Cash available to receive: $7,878,700
  • Received $85,300 from Rockets.

Boston Celtics

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $6,864,000
  • Received $1,100,000 from Nets.

Brooklyn Nets

• Cash available to send: $6,864,000
  • Sent $1,100,000 to Celtics.
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Charlotte Hornets

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Chicago Bulls

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Cleveland Cavaliers

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Note: The Cavaliers are ineligible to send out cash as long as they’re operating over the second apron.

Dallas Mavericks

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Denver Nuggets

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Detroit Pistons

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Golden State Warriors

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Houston Rockets

• Cash available to send: $7,878,700
  • Sent $85,300 to Hawks.
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Indiana Pacers

• Cash available to send: $5,464,000
  • Sent $2,500,000 to Spurs.
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Los Angeles Clippers

• Cash available to send: $5,464,000
  • Sent $2,500,000 to Jazz.
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Los Angeles Lakers

• Cash available to send: $4,714,000
  • Sent $3,250,000 to Timberwolves.
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Memphis Grizzlies

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Miami Heat

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Milwaukee Bucks

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Minnesota Timberwolves

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $3,214,000
  • Received $3,250,000 from Lakers.
  • Received $1,500,000 from Hawks.

New Orleans Pelicans

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

New York Knicks

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Oklahoma City Thunder

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Orlando Magic

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Philadelphia 76ers

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Phoenix Suns

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Portland Trail Blazers

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Sacramento Kings

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

San Antonio Spurs

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $5,464,000
  • Received $2,500,000 from Pacers.

Toronto Raptors

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Utah Jazz

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $5,464,000
  • Received $2,500,000 from Clippers.

Washington Wizards

• Cash available to send: $7,964,000
• Cash available to receive: $7,964,000

Data from Eric Pincus of Sports Business Classroom was used in the creation of this post.

When we’ve talked about restricted free agency in recent weeks, we’ve focused primarily on the four 2021 first-round picks who remain unsigned: Josh Giddey, Jonathan Kuminga, Quentin Grimes, and Cam Thomas.

However, there are technically several more restricted free agents on the market. Those players are coming off two-way contracts though, so their free agencies typically play out without much fanfare. Two-way restricted free agents essentially never sign offer sheets or change teams, and many of them just end up accepting their qualifying offers and playing on another two-way deal.

Restricted free agents have until October 1 to decide whether or not to accept their qualifying offers, assuming their teams don’t agree to push back that deadline. Here are the qualifying offers on the table for this year’s RFAs:

• Josh Giddey (Bulls): $11,142,058
• Quentin Grimes (Sixers): $8,741,210
• Jonathan Kuminga (Warriors): $7,976,830
• Cam Thomas (Nets): $5,993,172
• Dru Smith (Heat): $2,378,870 *
• Taran Armstrong (Warriors): Two-way ^
• N’Faly Dante (Rockets): Two-way ^
• Kevin McCullar Jr. (Knicks): Two-way ^
• Oscar Tshiebwe (Jazz): Two-way ^

Note: Qualifying offers marked with an asterisk (*) are partially guaranteed for $102,300; QOs marked with a caret (^) are partially guaranteed for $85,300.

For former first-round picks, qualifying offer amounts are generally based on their draft position, but they can fluctuate depending on whether or not a player met the starter criteria. That’s why Grimes, 2021’s No. 25 overall pick, has a higher qualifying offer than No. 7 pick Kuminga. All four of those players have fully guaranteed qualifying offers and would reach unrestricted free agency in 2026 if they were to accept their QOs.

Smith, meanwhile, is coming off a two-way contract, but is no longer eligible to sign another two-way deal with the Heat because he has spent parts of three separate seasons on two-way contracts with the team. So his qualifying offer is worth his minimum salary, with a small partial guarantee.

While it’s very common for two-way players to accept their qualifying offers, it happens far less frequently with former first-round picks.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN observed earlier this offseason (via Twitter), just five former first-round picks have signed their qualifying offers as restricted free agents since 2017. Here are how those five players fared in unrestricted free agency a year after signing their QOs:

• Alex Len: Accepted $4.19MM qualifying offer in 2017; signed two-year, $8.51MM contract in 2018.
• Nerlens Noel: Accepted $4.19MM qualifying offer in 2017; signed two-year, minimum-salary contract in 2018.
• Rodney Hood: Accepted $3.47MM qualifying offer in 2018; signed two-year, $11.72MM contract in 2019.
• Denzel Valentine: Accepted $4.64MM qualifying offer in 2020; signed two-year, minimum-salary contract in 2021 (partial guarantee in year one, non-guaranteed in year two).
• Miles Bridges: Accepted $7.92MM qualifying offer in 2023 (after sitting out all of 2022/23); signed three-year, $75MM contract in 2024.

Bridges was a unique case, since he faced charges of domestic violence just as he was about to hit restricted free agency for the first time in 2022. If not for his off-court legal issues, he almost certainly wouldn’t have had to settle for his qualifying offer — his eventual three-year, $75MM deal was a more accurate reflection of his on-court value.

As for the other players on this list, Len, Noel, Hood, and Valentine weren’t exactly marquee free agents when they finished up their rookie contracts, so it’s not a huge surprise that they weren’t able to secure the sort of lucrative multiyear deals they hoped for, nor is it a shock that they didn’t end up getting big paydays in unrestricted free agency a year later.

Giddey, Kuminga, Grimes, and Thomas have shown enough in their first four seasons to warrant multiyear investments worth at least the full mid-level exception (or well above that, in at least one or two cases), and players of that caliber generally don’t accept qualifying offers. So I think we’re still headed toward these four guys eventually working out new deals.

But if one or more of them does accept a qualifying offer, it will be a fascinating storyline to track going forward. Recent history shows a handful of underwhelming follow-up deals for former first-rounders who signed their qualifying offers, so an RFA who accepts his QO this season would be looking to buck that trend.

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 2026/27, but we can make an educated estimate. The NBA’s most recent projection for ’26/27 called for a cap increase of 7%. That works out to a cap of $165,472,000, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s mid-level and bi-annual exceptions.

[RELATED: Maximum Salary Projections For 2026/27]

[RELATED: Minimum Salary Projections For 2026/27]

Based on a $165,472,000 cap, here’s what the mid-level and bi-annual exceptions would look like in 2026/27:

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 Lakers, Jazz, and Wizards from using it in 2026/27, since those teams have used their BAEs in 2025/26.

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 2026/27 season, we can make an educated estimate. The NBA’s most recent projection for ’26/27 called for a 7% increase. That works out to $165,472,000, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s minimum salaries.

[RELATED: NBA Minimum Salaries For 2025/26]

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 2026/27 cap estimate, next year’s rookie minimum salary will surpass $1.36MM, while the minimum for a veteran with 10+ years of service will approach $3.9MM.

Here are the current minimum salary projections for the 2026/27 season, using a $165,472,000 cap:

It’s worth noting that these figures will only apply to players who sign new minimum-salary contracts in 206/27. The ’26/27 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 2025/26 season would have a second-year salary of $2,150,917 for ’26/27, as we outline here.

We’ll update these projections later in the season if the NBA adjusts its cap estimate for the 2026/27 season, and then again next year when the league officially sets the ’26/27 cap.

Although a number of big-money free agent contracts were completed earlier this summer, many of the most lucrative deals signed by players so far in 2025/26 have been contract extensions. And several of those extensions have been maximum-salary deals.

[RELATED: 2025/26 NBA Contract Extension Tracker]

Because those extensions won’t go into effect until at least the 2026/27 season and the NBA won’t finalize its ’26/27 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 ’26/27 called for a 7% increase rather than the maximum allowable 10%. That would work out to $165,472,000, which is the number we’ll use to project next season’s maximum salaries.

Listed below are the early maximum-salary projections for 2026/27. 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 2026/27:

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

The “6 years or less” column here is what Chet Holmgren‘s extension with the Thunder will look like. Paolo Banchero and Holmgren’s teammate Jalen Williams have Rose Rule language in their contracts, so their deals would be the same as Holmgren’s if they don’t make an All-NBA team or win MVP or Defensive Player of the Year, but they could move up to the 30% max column (“7-9 years”) if certain performance criteria are met.

De’Aaron Fox‘s new extension with the Spurs falls under the “7-9 years” column here, though Fox’s deal is for four years, not five. Without that $65MM+ salary in 2030/31, Fox projects to earn about $222.4MM on his four-year contract.

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 Trae Young‘s maximum contract with the Hawks if he becomes a free agent next summer, for instance.

The third column (35%) would apply to a player who reaches free agency next summer with 10+ years of NBA service, such as LeBron James or James Harden, though neither of them could sign a four- or five-year contract due to the Over-38 rule.

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 Austin Reaves were to sign with a new team next summer, his maximum contract would be a four-year deal projected to be worth nearly $178MM.

If a veteran free agent with between seven and nine years of NBA experience – such as Young – wants to change teams in 2025, he would be able to sign a four-year contract worth up to a projected $213MM+.

A veteran with 10+ years of experience would be able to earn up to $249MM across four years if he changes teams as a free agent in 2026. 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 many of those older stars are subject to the Over-38 rule.