Report: NBA increases salary-cap projection for 2023-24

The NBA has updated its salary cap projection for the 2023-24 season, telling teams that the cap is expected to be higher than previously anticipated, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.

According to Charania, the NBA’s updated projections call for a ’23-24 cap of $136M, with a luxury tax line of $165M.

The league previously estimated a $134M cap with a tax threshold. Last year's tax threshold was around $162M.

The NBA and NBPA have agreed not to increase the salary cap by more than 10% per year. Because the 2022-23 cap was $123,655,000, the cap for ’23-24 can’t exceed $136,020,500. Based on Charania’s reporting, it sounds like this year’s cap bump might reach that maximum 10% increase, or at least come very close to it.

The new projections will give more wiggle room to clubs whose team salaries for 2023-24 project to be around the tax line or at or above one of the two tax aprons, which will be approximately $7M and $17.5M above the tax threshold. Teams that project to have cap space, meanwhile, should have a couple extra million dollars to work with as they weigh how to use that room.

Various exceptions that are tied to the salary cap, including the mid-level exception, bi-annual exception and rookie scale, will get a slight bump too.

The official cap figures for the coming league year are typically announced right near the end of June. However, when the NBA updates its projections this close to free agency, it’s safe to assume the actual numbers will be very similar to these estimates.