NBA increases salary cap projection for 2026-27

The NBA informed teams on Friday that its projection for the 2026/27 salary cap has increased from $165M to $166M, sources tell Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (X link).

When the league set a $154,647,000 cap for 2025-26, it reportedly told teams it was projecting a 7% increase for ’26-27. That would work out to $165,472,000.

It’s unclear, based on Fischer’s reporting, if the NBA’s new cap projection is exactly $166M or the league bumped up the percentage of the projected increase (perhaps to 7.5%). Either way, it’s a relatively small difference, but it would be good news for teams that will be operating under the cap or navigating in tax/apron territory next season.

Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, annual cap increases are capped at 10% to avoid another huge single-year jump like the 34.5% increase that occurred in 2016, which allowed the 73-win Warriors to sign Kevin Durant in free agency.

A 10% bump for ’26-27 would result in a $170,112,000 cap. However, unless the NBA’s early estimate is way off, it doesn’t appear that the cap will rise that high next summer.