The NBA's latest collective bargaining agreement dropped a team-building bombshell on the league.
Previously, there was only one luxury-tax apron, and the penalties for crossing it weren't all that severe. Teams just dropped down from the larger non-taxpayer mid-level exception to the smaller taxpayer MLE, lost access to the bi-annual exception, couldn't acquire players via sign-and-trade, and they could take back only 125% percent of the salary they sent out in any trade, plus $100,000. In retrospect, those were small potatoes.
The new CBA stiffened the restrictions placed upon teams that cross the first apron, and it also introduced an even more draconian second apron. Teams that cross the first apron now can't take back a single dollar more in salary than they send out in a trade, nor can they sign someone on the buyout market who was previously earning more than the non-taxpayer MLE once the regular season begins. They also can no longer use a traded player exception that was created in a prior season.
It's even worse for teams over the second apron. They're subject to all of the same restrictions as first-apron teams, but they also can't aggregate two smaller salaries to acquire a bigger contract in a trade. They also lose access to the taxpayer MLE — so they can only hand out veteran-minimum contracts to free agents who aren't in-house — and they can't send out cash in a trade as a sweetener, either.
With that in mind, here's a look at which teams are currently over the first and second aprons heading into the 2025-26 NBA season.
Above the first apron
Toronto Raptors ($1.4 million over)
The Raptors are roughly $1.4 million over the first apron because the unlikely bonuses for R.J. Barrett ($3.4 million), Immanuel Quickley ($2.5 million) and Jakob Poeltl ($500,000) get counted for apron purposes. However, those unlikely bonuses won't get counted for luxury-tax purposes unless any of the players actually earn them. That means the Raptors enter the season only $3 million over the $187.9 million luxury-tax threshold.
At media day, new Raptors general manager Bobby Webster downplayed the importance of needing to duck the tax by the trade deadline. However, he conceded that "the likelihood that this team is the exact same team by the end of the year is probably zero, and then put on top of that with sort of one move you can get under the tax."
Ochai Agbaji, who will be a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn't sign an extension by Oct. 20, would be the obvious salary-dump candidate. Otherwise, the Raptors would likely try to take back less salary in any trade involving one of their bigger contracts. Either way, don't expect them to end the season over the luxury-tax line, much less the first apron, unless they look like legitimate championship contenders.
Boston Celtics ($4.0 million over)
Speaking of salary dumps … the Boston Celtics were busy in that regard this offseason. After Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles in the playoffs, they pivoted from perhaps assembling the NBA's first $500 million roster to shedding Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porziņģis and Georges Niang in financially motivated moves this offseason. And they might not be done yet.
The Celtics are roughly $4.0 million over the first apron and $12.1 million over the luxury-tax threshold at the moment. Salary-dumping Sam Hauser ($10.0 million) would get them close to escaping the tax, but they might instead prefer to flip Anfernee Simons ($27.7 million) for someone who earns significantly less.
In early July, other teams told ESPN's Brian Windhorst that the Celtics were "actively trying" to trade Simons. One month later, longtime NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that Boston is expected to "continue to invite trade discussion" involving Simons up until the Feb. 5 trade deadline.
Much like Toronto, the Celtics are far more likely to end the season under the luxury tax entirely than they are to stay above the first apron.
New York Knicks ($8.2 million over)
Unlike the Raptors and Celtics, the Knicks figure to get further above the first apron over the coming weeks, not further away.
The Knicks currently have only 12 players on standard contracts, although they have Malcolm Brogdon and Landry Shamet on non-guaranteed Exhibit 9 deals and Garrison Mathews on a non-guaranteed Exhibit 10 deal. However, they're hard-capped at the second apron since they signed Guerschon Yabusele with the taxpayer MLE. They're currently too close to the second apron (only $3.7 million below) to convert both of Brogdon and Shamet to standard contracts before the start of the season without shedding salary.
According to Fischer, the Knicks have "already called several teams to gauge interest" in Pacome Dadiet, whom they selected with the 25th overall pick in the 2024 NBA draft. Regardless of whether they shed Dadiet ($2.8 million) or Tyler Kolek ($2.2 million) in the next two weeks, expect them to flip at least one of them and sign two of Brogdon, Shamet and Mathews to standard deals, putting them even further above the first apron and closer to the second apron.
Minnesota Timberwolves ($8.3 million over)
The Minnesota Timberwolves are also heading into the 2025-26 season with an open roster spot, but their roster seems fairly set otherwise. They're $8.3 million above the first apron and roughly $3.6 million below the second apron, which means they have enough wiggle room to sign someone to a minimum contract ($2.3 million) and still stay below the second apron.
The Timberwolves aren't hard-capped at the moment, so they theoretically could go over the second apron at some point this season. However, they can't take back more salary in a trade than they send out, which would make it challenging for them to cross that threshold.
The good news is that the Timberwolves do still have access to their taxpayer MLE. Using it would hard-cap them at the second apron, so they can't use more than $3.6 million of it without shedding salary elsewhere, but that could give them an advantage for any free agent who's still left on the market.
Golden State Warriors ($9.8 million over)
After spending the entire offseason in a state of stasis thanks to Jonathan Kuminga, the Warriors recently filled out their roster in one fell swoop. They signed Al Horford with the taxpayer MLE, signed De'Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II to minimum deals and used the second-round exception to sign Will Richard.
Since the Warriors used the taxpayer MLE on Horford, they're now hard-capped at the second apron. Following their recent deluge of transactions, they're currently $9.8 million above the first apron and $2.0 million below the second apron, which means they currently don't have enough wiggle room to sign a 15th player to a guaranteed contract.
The Warriors agreed to an Exhibit 9 deal with Seth Curry, but they'll have to waive him before the regular season begins unless they somehow shed salary. However, ESPN's Shams Charania reported he's "expected to be on the roster for the majority of the campaign," so the Warriors figure to re-sign him once the value of minimum contracts prorates enough. (It begins to drop by roughly $13,000 per day once the season begins.)
Dallas Mavericks ($10.6 million over)
The Dallas Mavericks learned some tough lessons about the aprons and hard caps last year.
They hard-capped themselves at the first apron by acquiring Klay Thompson via sign-and-trade during the offseason, and their blockbuster moves at the trade deadline left them less than $200,000 below the first apron. When injuries began to mount for them late in the year, they didn't even have enough wiggle room under the first apron to re-sign Moses Brown to another 10-day contract.
This year, the Mavericks hard-capped themselves at the second apron by signing D'Angelo Russell with the taxpayer MLE to serve as their stopgap starting point guard while Kyrie Irving recovers from a torn ACL. They're now roughly $10.6 million above the first apron and only $1.3 million below the second apron, although they do have a full 15-man roster.
Here's hoping they don't run into similar injury issues this year.
Above the second apron
Cleveland Cavaliers ($22.0 million over)
The Cleveland Cavaliers are the only team that's over the second apron this year. They aren't just dipping their toes in the second-apron waters, either. They're a full $22.0 million over, which suggests they're going to finish the season above it as well.
Assuming that's the case, the Cavaliers won't be able to trade their 2033 first-round pick moving forward unless they stay below the second apron in three of the next four seasons. If they stay above the second apron this year and in at least two of the next four seasons, that 2033 pick will automatically drop to the bottom of the first round, too.
In other words: If the Cavs don't go on a deep playoff run this year, they're likely dumping at least one big salary next offseason.