A number of NBA teams are facing a hard cap ahead of the 2024-25 season.
According to Bobby Marks of ESPN, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers are among the teams hard-capped at the first apron while a handful of other teams, including the New York Knicks, have been hard-capped at the second apron.
The NBA announced June 30 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.”
While the NBA doesn’t have the traditional “hard cap” that a league like the NHL does, teams can be hard-capped at a certain amount depending on the types of transactions it makes when over the official salary cap.
The Warriors were hard-capped due to participating in a sign-and-trade and for utilizing the non-tax mid-level exception. This happened during the sign-and-trade deal that brought Buddy Hield to Golden State, and also the team’s use of the mid-level exception on De’Anthony Melton.
The Los Angeles Clippers received the hard cap due to utilizing the non-tax mid-level exception. The Knicks received the penalty due to the aggregate cost of the offseason.
Golden State has $533,659 in first-apron space, the Clippers have $5.9 million while the Knicks have $15 million in second-apron space.