NBA Salary Cap Projection Reportedly Increased to $166M for 2026-27 Season

The 2026-27 NBA salary cap projection reportedly received a slight boost on Friday.

According to NBA insider Jake Fischer, the league informed teams that the projected 2026-27 salary cap has increased from $165 million to $166 million.

The updated projection continues to represent an increase over the $154.647 million salary cap for the 2025-26 season that went into effect on July 1.

Despite the $1 million projected addition for the NBA's 2026-27 campaign, it still represents an increase of roughly seven percent upon the 2025-26 cap. ESPN's Bobby Marks reported on June 30 that the cap was expected to climb by seven percent despite 10 percent representing the maximum increase.

The salary cap has risen by 10 percent in three of the past four seasons.

John Hollinger of The Athletic previously reported that teams had budgeted for another 10 percent raise, but decreased their projections for the luxury tax by about "$5 million apiece."

The Brooklyn Nets are currently the only team currently expected to be below the reported $166 million 2026-27 salary cap, via Spotrac. Several teams could also find themselves below the cap by making trades or reworking contracts, while others may look to use the extra $1 million in order to stay below the first or second apron.

While the 2026-27 salary cap won't officially be set until June 2026, teams were told that the cap is expected to rise a bit higher than initially planned.