After several seasons of limited, COVID-affected growth, the NBA salary cap is reportedly making a big jump.
The cap for the 2022-23 NBA season is projected to rise from last season’s $112 million to $123.6 million — a $11.6 million increase, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps.
That would make the luxury tax line approximately $150.2 million and the hard cap about $156.9 million.
Bontemps notes that this offseason’s hike will be roughly equivalent to the amount the cap increased from 2017-18 through 2021-22. The cap did not move at all between 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to decreased revenues during the pandemic.
Of course, the NBA salary cap is subject to exceptions allowing teams to exceed it in the right circumstances.
That’s how the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors could lead the league with a $184 million total team cap hit. Warriors superstar and Finals MVP Steph Curry had the highest individual cap hit of the 2021-22 season at $45.8 million.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Oklahoma City Thunder had the lowest cap hit in the NBA at $90.5 million — only $47.1 million of which was active.
