The salary cap in the NBA always seems to shock the fans and TV pundits alike. Every year, the NBA places a cap on how much teams can spend on players. That cap has benefited the game overall as the smaller teams in the NBA are able to challenge the established teams that dominate the league year in and year out. The Oklahoma City Thunder shocked the world by completely dominating the NBA in the 2024-25 season, and now the NBA teams are figuring out how the new cap will affect their plans for the future.
Professional athletes’ salaries are out of this world
Every fan of the NBA has made the claim that the players are heavily overpaid. “They get paid to play basketball” has rung out across the NBA since its inception. However, what most people fail to understand is that those players are highly valued by their teams and are every bit worth the money their teams spend on their annual salaries.
Soccer, in particular, has a reputation for being inherently unfair as the biggest teams spend inordinate amounts of money on players and salaries. Our minds are immediately drawn towards teams like Manchester City and Real Madrid. But the NBA is different. Yes, the best players in the league get paid ridiculous amounts of money, but there is a limit to how much a team can spend on salaries.
The salary cap for the 2025-26 season in the NBA has increased by 10%
The economy directly affects the salary cap for the NBA teams. Nearly every year, as things become more expensive and people spend more money, the cap increases along with it. The idea is that teams in the NBA focus on draft prospects and building a foundation for future talent, instead of simply buying the best players in the NBA.
With the 2024-25 season fresh in our memories, the NBA has now come out to confirm the salary cap for the 2025-26 season. The teams in the NBA for the upcoming season will be capped at $154.647 million. And they project that number to increase for the 2026-27 season to a whopping, $187.895 million. The free agency and Summer League are in full swing, and now the teams have confirmation of their cap room.
The contracts in the NBA are astronomical, as evident with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s new supermax extension. But the NBA has done its best to limit those types of high-paying contracts by instituting the following measures for the 2025-26 season:
- The Minimum Team Salary is $139.182 million
- The First Apron Level is $195.945 million
- The Second Apron Level is $207.824 million
- Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exception is $14.104 million
- Taxpayer Mid-Level exception is $5.685 million
- Mid-Level for a team with room under the Salary Cap is $8.781 million.
As the moratorium period ends at noon ET on Sunday, July 6, the teams in the NBA can officially sign contracts. The aim for the smaller teams is to lure big players to their shores, while the focus for teams on the top end of the table is to try to keep under the aprons to avoid paying a luxury tax. By confirming the salary cap, the NBA has given the teams the go-ahead to officially do business.
What can we expect from the 2025-26 season in the NBA?
With the draft in the rear-view mirror, the teams in the NBA are currently embroiled in the Summer League. The expectations for the 2025-26 season are sky high as several teams in the NBA have made major changes to their rosters and front office. The highlight this offseason has undoubtedly been the 7-team trade of Kevin Durant. We expect the teams to make full use of the room in their respective caps to allow for more roster changes before the season begins. The 2025-26 season is promising to be incredibly entertaining.
