The NBA wage cap has increased gradually year over year. A look at the 2023-24 NBA salary cap, Cap space, Luxury tax apron, Second apron for next season explained
The NBA wage cap has gradually grown each year, except COVID. Players can now sign record-breaking contracts as a result, allowing front offices more flexibility to put together championship-winning teams.
NBA 2023-24 salary cap, cap space, luxury tax apron and second apron meaning, rules and punishment explained
The NBA salary cap is set at $134 million for the 2023–24 season. By the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams are permitted to exceed this number but will be subject to various punishments.
The luxury tax, which is set at $162 million for the upcoming season, is one salary cap figure to keep an eye on. Teams will be required to pay more for exceeding the tax if they exceed this mark. The second apron, which exists under the new CBA, is a level above the luxury tax. It will be $179.5 million, which is $17 million more than the luxury tax, for the upcoming season. Teams which exceed the second apron will be subject to harsh penalties, similar to the luxury tax.
The NBA’s highest payrolls for this season belonged to the LA Clippers (192.9 million) and Golden State Warriors (192.3 million). However, depending on what happens with Draymond Green and Golden State, LA may not have the highest for the 2023–24 season. Recently, the All-Star forward declined his player option, and he will now be an unrestricted free agency.
What are the penalties for going over the NBA salary cap?
The consequences teams face increase significantly as they go more above the NBA salary cap. All teams subject to the tax will first be required to pay a luxury tax bill. The new CBA also limits the number of veteran minimum agreements that clubs in the tax can give.
Teams that are past the second apron receive the harshest penalty. It will affect their draft choices, and the front office won’t be able to sign players to mid-level exception contracts in the open market. Teams in the second apron will also find it more difficult to salary-match when making trades, in addition to all of the other factors mentioned above.
Being unable to sign players on the buyout market is arguably the second apron’s worst penalty. In the weeks preceding the playoffs in the past, teams have been able to recruit important players in this way. The most recent illustration of this is when the Miami Heat signed Kevin Love after the Cleveland Cavaliers bought him out.