What NBA Teams Have Cap Space?

The 2020 NBA offseason is finally here and teams are preparing for free agency. Here’s a look at which teams have the most cap space to work with.

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NBA Teams with the Most Cap Space

The following NBA teams have the most cap space heading into the 2019-2020 season. These teams have the ability to sign free agents and make trades. The teams are listed in order from most to least cap space.

Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks currently have the most cap space in the NBA at $59.2 million. That number will increase to $61.5 million if they renounce the rights to all of their free agents, which they are expected to do. The Hawks have just four players under contract for next season, none of whom make more than $8 million per year.

Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Nets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at Barclays Center. They are one of two NBA teams located in New York City; the other is the New York Knicks. The franchise is jointly owned by Joseph Tsai, Mikhail Prokhorov, and Steve Ballmer.

The team was established in 1967 as a charter franchise of the NBA’s rival league, the American Basketball Association (ABA). They played in New Jersey as the New Jersey Americans during their first season, before moving to Long Island in 1968 and changing their name to the New York Nets. During this time, they won two ABA championships (in 1974 and 1976). In 1976, the ABA merged with the NBA, and four ABA teams were added to bring the number of franchises in that league up to 22. The Nets were one of those four ABA teams (the others being the survivors of the ABA–NBA merger: San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, and Denver Nuggets). In 1977–78 there was a mini-game tiebreaker between them and cross-town rival Philadelphia 76ers for first place so that both would make it into equal playoff brackets as per NBA rules regarding balancing playoff participation numbers from each conference at that time regardless of won-lost record – otherwise each conference would have been limited to 10 playoff entrants while it stood at 12 teams total with 24 making it if all conferences were balanced equally – though Brooklyn had a better head-to-head won-lost record than Philly that season too so would have still made it if not for said rule anyway; that quirky circumstance has not happened since then or since any division or conference realignment or expansion.

They then immediately moved back to New Jersey soon thereafter, playing as either the New Jersey Nets or New York Nets from 1977 through 2012 when they again relocated back across two rivers to Brooklyn where they play today within a mile radius of where they started out over 50 years ago – making them one of only three major American professional sports leagues’ franchises (along with MLB’s San Francisco Giants and NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks) whose three arenas stand within four miles of each other – yet prior to 2017 there had been no inter-league meetings between any two of them ever on any playing field except for preseason exhibition games nor even cross-sport fan crossovers between them despite sharing Brooklyn/New York City market space due largely both to longtime scheduling conflicts with all three having had/having venues booked solid nearly every day with conflicting events almost always on tap simultaneously plus also partly due 1to most Nights when one played usually being Days when at least one other rested while never vice versa leading many metropolitan area residents until recently being unaware that any fans existed for more than just their “home” teams if any at all outside their own respective fandoms excepting mainly transplanted out-of-towners; but beginning in December 2016 all three now share Barclay’s Center which hosts both NBA Nets and NHL Islanders home games plus various notable concerts/entertainment events too as well as holding such functions itself on many Days when neither plays there.

Charlotte Hornets

The Charlotte Hornets currently have the most cap space in the NBA at $27,853,606. The Hornets will have plenty of space to sign a big free agent this offseason or make a trade for a star player. The Hornets have been active in recent years, making the playoffs in 2014 and 2015.

Chicago Bulls

The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league’s Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 16, 1966, and played its first game during the 1966–67 NBA season.

The Bulls play their home games at the United Center, an arena on Chicago’s Near West Side shared with the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks. The Bulls saw their greatest success during the 1990s when they were responsible for popularizing the NBA worldwide. They are known for having one of the NBA’s greatest dynasties, winning six NBA championships between 1991 and 1998 with two three-peats. All six championship teams were led by Hall of Famers Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson.

The Bulls are the only NBA franchise to win multiple championships and never lose an NBA Finals series in their history. They have also won more regular season games than any other team in NBA history.

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the most cap space in the NBA at over $60 million. They are followed by the New York Knicks, who have just over $56 million in cap space. The Los Angeles Lakers have the third most cap space with just over $32 million. The Lakers are followed by the Phoenix Suns and the Atlanta Hawks, who both have just over $30 million in cap space.

NBA Teams with the Least Cap Space

As the free agency period for the 2019-2020 NBA season approaches, several teams are tight against the salary cap. The cap for the 2019-2020 season is $109 million, which is a $7 million increase from the previous season. The following teams have the least amount of cap space and will have to make some tough decisions regarding free agency.

Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors: $-17.2 million

The Warriors are in the luxury tax and will have to pay a repeater tax next season if their payroll exceeds $140 million. They have very little wiggle room to add any significant players and will likely only be able to sign veterans minimum players or use the mid-level exception.

Houston Rockets

The Houston Rockets currently have the least amount of cap space in the NBA. They are projected to have just under $5 million in cap space this offseason. This is due to the large contracts of players like James Harden and Chris Paul. The Rockets will likely need to use this cap space to re-sign some of their own free agents, such as Clint Capela and Austin Rivers.

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers currently have the least amount of cap space in the NBA. As of September 22, 2020, the Pacers have a little over $102 million in committed salary for the 2020-21 season, which is just over the luxury tax line of $109.14 million. The Pacers only have eight players under contract for next season and will have to use most of their cap space to re-sign their own free agents, such as Myles Turner and Malcolm Brogdon.

LA Clippers

The LA Clippers currently have the least amount of cap space in the NBA at just under $19 million. This is due to a number of large contracts on their books, including those of Blake Griffin, Danilo Gallinari, and DeAndre Jordan. While the team has been rumored to be interested in making a run at marquee free agents like LeBron James and Kevin Durant, it is unlikely that they will be able to sign either player given their current financial situation.

LA Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers currently have the least amount of cap space in the NBA. As of September 22, 2019, they are $22.8 million over the salary cap and have a luxury tax bill of $4.2 million. They also have a team option on forward Kyle Kuzma that would add another $1.7 million to their cap commitments for next season.

What NBA Teams Will Have Cap Space in the Future?

The NBA’s salary cap is set to rise in the near future, which means that more teams will have cap space. This is good news for teams that are looking to add new players. Here is a list of all the teams that are expected to have cap space in the future.

Milwaukee Bucks

The Milwaukee Bucks could have some significant cap space in the future depending on how they approach their current contracts. contracts of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton are all set to expire in 2020, and the team also has an $11 million team option on Malcolm Brogdon for 2021-22. If the Bucks don’t extend any of those players, they could have over $60 million in cap space in 2021.

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Minnesota Timberwolves will have significant cap space in the future. The team is currently over the salary cap, but that will change in the summer of 2020 when several large contracts come off the books. The team will have roughly $60 million in cap space to work with next offseason.

New Orleans Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans will have cap space in the future as their current core of Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, and Jrue Holiday all come off the books within the next few years. The Pelicans will also have several young players on low-cost contracts, which will give them plenty of room to sign free agents or make trades.

New York Knicks

The New York Knicks have a lot of cap space and will have even more in the future. They currently have $74 million in cap space and are projected to have $93 million in 2020.

Oklahoma City Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder are one of the teams that will have cap space in the future. They have a lot of young talent on their roster and they are not paying any members of their core group of players very much money. This gives them the ability to save up money and then spend it on free agents in the future.