The NBA announced salary-cap levels for the upcoming season, and they came up just a bit short of earlier projections.
The salary cap for the 2024-25 season is set at $140.588 million, with the luxury tax set at $170.814 million. The first apron will be $178.132 million, with the second apron set at $188.931 million. Those numbers provide some certainty to teams as they figure out where they stand financially going into the offseason.
The National Basketball Association today announced that the Salary Cap has been set at $140.588 million for the 2024-25 season. The Tax Level for the 2024‑25 season is $170.814 million. pic.twitter.com/DdjoGhcAsz
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) June 30, 2024
The NBA had projected the cap would be $141 million, but the final number is roughly $400,000 less. That’s just a 3.36 percent increase from the $136.021 million salary cap from this past season.
It’s hard to say why the cap had such a small increase, but one reason is likely the shortfall in local television rights. The cap increased by 10 percent last year and is projected to increase by 10 percent over the next half decade as the league benefits from its new media rights deal that begins in 2025.
The nontaxpayer midlevel exception (MLE) for 2024-25 is $12.822 million, the taxpayer MLE is $5.168 million, and the room exception is $7.983 million. The team salary floor, at 90 percent of the cap, is $126.529 million.
Every dollar will count for teams as they try to avoid the various aprons and tax lines in the most recent collective bargaining agreement. Teams above the second apron face draconian team-building restrictions, and teams in the luxury tax must pay taxes on their team salary, dependent on how far above the line they go.
(Photo: Nic Antaya / Getty Images)
