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Apr 9, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA: Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura (28) and forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic (77) and forward Dorian Finney-Smith (17) during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Lakers Offseason: Salary Cap Rules, First Apron, Second Apron Explained

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Alex Kirschenbaum | Last updated May 29, 2025 2:30 PM ET

Following a surprisingly early first round playoff exit, the 50-win Los Angeles Lakers head into an offseason of extreme uncertainty.

Two of first-year head coach JJ Redick's five favorite players, 21-time All-NBA power forward LeBron James and 3-and-D forward Dorian Finney-Smith, have player options for the 2025-26 season worth $52.6 million and $15.4 million, respectively.

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After their trade acquire oft-hurt, rim-rolling Charlotte Hornets center Mark Williams was rescinded when the 7-footer failed his Lakers physical, it became uncomfortably apparent in the postseason that the team will need to add a traditional starting-caliber five man if it hopes to compete for a title with five-time All-NBA First Team guard Luka Doncic.

The other big question facing Los Angeles team president Rob Pelinka centers around the fit of James, Doncic, and Austin Reaves — all are best with the ball in their hands, and none are plus defenders at this stage in their careers. On offense, they have carved out a tenuous alliance, but they give up points at volume on the other end.

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Keith Smith of Spotrac recently outlined the league's salary cap rules, under its current CBA. Let's unpack how that affects Los Angeles.

I'm just gonna redrop the chart here, because a lot of people are talking about what teams can and can't do at the various aprons. Hopefully this helps! pic.twitter.com/sbe22gcqIK
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 31, 2024

If a team is under the NBA's salary cap, it can bring in free agents using cap space or the room exception (which was $8 million last year). The club has no trade or buyout restrictions.

As Smith notes, teams must spend at the level of a season's salary cap floor by the start of the year. It's technically possible for the Lakers to be up to $31.3 million under the cap this season, but that would require both LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith to decline their respective player options and play elsewhere.

The NBA's cap maximum is $154.6 million. The Lakers will owe $191.6 million in committed salaries on their active roster next season, as of this writing.

Per Spotrac, the Lakers are projected to be $35.2 million over the projected salary cap. Still, that will be $4.4 million beneath the $195.9 million first luxury tax apron, and $207.8 million second luxury tax apron.

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A team like the Lakers, then, is over the salary cap, but beneath the first tax apron. That means the Lakers will have significant mechanisms available to them for improving their roster, even assuming they retain James (a safe assumption) and Finney-Smith (unclear). The Lakers will have the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, at their disposal which was worth $12.8 million this past season and will likely pay marginally more in 2025-26.

Should Los Angeles use the non-taxpayer MLE, the team will be hard-capped at the first tax apron once it does.

The team will also have access to the league's bi-annual exception, worth $4.7 million in 2024-25, assuming they didn't use one the year prior. Last year, only the Houston Rockets and L.A. Clippers employed the bi-annual exception.

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For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.

This article first appeared on FanNation All Lakers and was syndicated with permission.

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