NBA
Looking At The NBA Cap – Post-Deadline
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Thursday’s NBA trade deadline came and went with a flurry, as 39 players changed teams.
Some teams made acquisitions to bolster their chances of a playoff run, like Arron Afflalo to the Portland Trail Blazers, Goran Dragic to the Miami HEAT and even Thaddeus Young to the Brooklyn Nets.
Other squads embraced rebuilding, or just chose to shuffle the deck for better fits, like the Denver Nuggets dumping JaVale McGee and Afflalo, the Milwaukee Bucks swapping out Brandon Knight for Michael Carter-Williams and the Phoenix Suns sending out Isaiah Thomas and Dragic, while landing Knight from Milwaukee.
Each and every move had salary cap implications. Five teams are over the NBA’s luxury tax limit (Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder).
Seven teams have cap room (Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz), which can be used to add a free agent before the end of the regular season.
The Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets are not under the salary cap, despite payroll below the $63.1 million line. Their sizable trade exceptions (for Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee, respectively) keep them over. While those exceptions can be renounced, both teams stand to have more flexibility while over the cap — at least through the NBA draft in June.
The salary cap picture will change dramatically when last-year contracts expire before July.
A few teams (Los Angeles Lakers, Indiana Pacers and HEAT) still have disabled player exceptions (DPE), expiring on March 10. Beyond the trade deadline, a team can still use a DPE to sign a free agent or claim a player off waivers — but limited to rest-of-season deals.
The NBA deadline for playoff eligibility is the end of February, players must be free agents before March to be available for the postseason with a new franchise. Players don’t need to sign until the last day of the regular season in April to be eligible for the playoffs, but they need to be clear of their prior team by March. Here’s a look at where teams stand after the deadline:
Salary data is updated as soon as information becomes final. Check back early and often for the latest.
