Find out about the NBA salary cap, luxury tax, free agency, maximum contract amount, bird rights and much more explained for the 2022 season
In this article will attempt to understand how the NBA’s salary cap works. NBA is an American sports league, which has a pay cap in an attempt to develop the league larger, more balanced and competitive.
NBA Salary Cap Rules Explained For 2022-23 Season, Luxury Tax, Players, Contract Details
Bam Adebayo is not currently eligible to be included in a potential Kevin Durant trade with the Nets because of NBA salary cap rules, unless Ben Simmons is also part of the deal, per the Miami Herald pic.twitter.com/MRfh7flg7Z
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) June 30, 2022
Do not make your kids play football, NBA salary cap on the way up.
— Ahmed/The Ears 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) June 30, 2022
NBA has a unique cap as compared to other major leagues like MLB and NFL. NBA offers a soft salary cap unlike the MLB and NFL with hard one. The soft cap enables the NBA teams to have some exceptions in their cap.
What is the NBA salary cap and how does it works?
The cap is the limit on the total money that is given to each team, to keep them from overspending. Basically, each of the owners are composed of a salary floor to spend a minimum figure to make their team balanced and competitive.
The fixed amount given to each team is determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the consent of both NBA franchises and the Players’ Association. Unlike other major leagues like MLB and NFL, NBA has a soft cap, which means teams can have exceptions in their salary cap.
What if NBA teams exceed the cap?
NBA teams can only go above the cap using the “Larry Bird” exception. If one of the NBA teams goes over the salary cap, then the teams have to pay the luxury tax.
NBA Salary cap for 22-23: USD 123 Million, a 10 per cent increase from last year’s figures of USD 112 Million.
NBA Luxury Tax 2022-23: USD 149 Million
Max amount contract in NBA
The value of the maximum amount of the contract offered to qualified players is determined by several factors, the number of years of experience the player has. For instance, players with six years or less of league experience are allowed to sign the contract with a maximum value of 25 per cent of the cap. If players have seven to nine years of league experience, they are permitted to sign a contract valued at 30% of the cap. Or if players have ten years of experience, they can sign a contract with a value of 35 percent of the cap.