Hard Cap Overview for Mavs, Warriors, Knicks, Lakers

Currently, 24 out of 30 NBA teams face a hard cap, either at the first or second tax apron, due to moves made earlier this season. For most of these teams, the hard cap is unlikely to cause any significant issues moving forward.

With the trade deadline now behind, teams will mostly see payroll increases from minor signings or 10-day deals, and most are well below their hard cap, making those moves manageable.

However, there are some exceptions, and we’ll focus on four teams whose hard cap situations could become a factor in the near future.

To better understand these situations, it’s important to know that a full-season veteran minimum contract for 2024/25 carries a cap hit of $2,087,519, which translates to $11,997 per day over the regular season’s 174 days. This amount is prorated based on how much of the season remains. For example, a veteran minimum signed with just 20 days left would count for $239,945 against the cap. We will refer to how many “days” of minimum contracts each team can afford. For example, a team $100K under their cap could sign a player for 8 days, but not 9.

Rookies or players with one year of NBA service are priced slightly lower than the veteran minimum. However, for tax and apron calculations, they are treated like veteran minimum contracts unless the team holds the player’s draft rights. An example is the Knicks converting Ariel Hukporti from a two-way contract to a standard deal, where the rookie’s minimum cap hit was similar to the tax charge. We’ll note if any of the teams below can follow a similar path.

Dallas Mavericks

Open roster spots: 1

Room below hard cap: $171,120

Veteran minimum days available: 14 ($167,961)

The Mavericks are currently without four injured big men (Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, and Dwight Powell) and may want to sign a free agent center. However, their hard cap creates obstacles.

With only 14 days of veteran minimum salary available for the rest of the season, the Mavericks have two options:

1. Wait until March 31 to sign a free agent.

2. Sign a player to a 10-day contract and then decide by April 10 whether to re-sign them or bring in someone new.

The Mavericks could sign a rookie on a minimum deal for up to 25 days, but none of their two-way players qualify, and their only draft-and-stash option is 20-year-old Melvin Ajinca, who is playing in France. Bringing him to the U.S. doesn’t seem practical, so they’ll need to be patient.

Golden State Warriors

Open roster spots: 3

Room below hard cap: $1,372,306

Veteran minimum days available: 114 ($1,367,685)

The Warriors’ situation may seem more manageable at first glance, with 114 days left to use. But Golden State only has 12 players on standard contracts and needs to reach 14 by February 20. Teams can’t remain under the roster minimum for more than two weeks (28 days in total for the season).

If they sign two rest-of-season contracts by February 20, these would cover 53 days, totaling 106 days for both. However, this would prevent the Warriors from adding a 15th player until the final week of the season.

The Warriors are likely to sign two players to 10-day contracts, with reports already confirming a deal with G League standout Kevin Knox. A second 10-day agreement is expected soon. These contracts would consume 20 of their remaining 114 days (leaving 94), allowing the Warriors to go without 14 players until March 2-15. After that, they would have 29 days left to fill all their roster spots.