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Nuggets start 2026-27 alone above the second apron: what each NBA apron blocks

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 29, 2026. Last updated October 29, 2026.

The Nuggets are the only team beginning the season over the second apron, per Hoops Rumors, which credits Spotrac's Keith Smith (October 20). This post lists what each apron blocks, read from Article VII, Section 2 of the 2023 NBA CBA. The cap, tax line and tax rates are in the guide to how the NBA salary cap works, and each exception is in the NBA exceptions guide.

Which teams start 2026-27 above the aprons?

One team is above the second apron and six more are above the first, per Hoops Rumors citing Spotrac. Another six are in luxury tax territory, and 17 are under the tax line. The levels are $209,015,000 for the first apron and $221,686,000 for the second, per the NBA.

Opening night is not the final word. A team is a Second Apron Team only if it is above the second apron at the start of its last regular-season game, per Section 2(f)(1). A team can also be hard-capped without being over a line today. Hoops Rumors' July 10 list had 18 teams capped at the first apron and Phoenix at the second, per Hoops Rumors, a count by the author.

What does each apron block, move by move?

A team may not make a listed move if its payroll would be above that apron right after the move, and a team that makes one may not go above that apron for the rest of the salary cap year, per Section 2(e)(2)(i). The list is the CBA's Transaction Restrictions Table in Section 2(e)(4).

Rows are quoted from the CBA's lettering. Row G applied to 2023-24 only. The first apron and second apron glossary entries give the short definitions.

What other apron rules apply beyond blocked moves?

The second apron adds a draft pick penalty, and two further rules apply to the apron table. A Second Apron Team cannot trade its first-round pick in the first draft after the seventh season that follows the season in question, per Section 2(f)(2)(i). For 2026-27 that is the 2034 draft, by the author's reading of the CBA's own example, where 2024-25 points to 2032.

If the team is a Second Apron Team in two or more of the next four seasons, that pick falls to the end of the first round, ordered by record if more than one team is penalized, per Section 2(f)(1)(ii) and (2)(ii). From the day after the regular season through the end of the cap year, rows E to J also count against the next season's apron levels, per Section 2(e)(2)(ii). A team that signs anyone with the taxpayer mid-level cannot make moves in rows A to F that season, per Section 2(e)(2)(iii)(B).

Does crossing an apron change the repeater tax?

No. The tax and the aprons are separate tests. A team pays repeater rates if its payroll was above the tax level in three or more of the four prior seasons, per Section 2(d)(2), and the repeater rates from 2025-26 run from $3.00 to $6.75 per dollar across the first four brackets, per Section 2(d)(2)(ii).

The tax is measured once, on payroll at the start of the team's last regular-season game, per Section 2(d)(1)(i). A few adjustments follow after that game starts. The aprons are checked at every move, so a team can be over the tax line and still be below the first apron.

What do the aprons mean for a player's market?

A team above the first apron cannot offer the non-taxpayer mid-level of $15,044,000, which runs up to four seasons, per Hoops Rumors and Section 6(e)(2). A team between the first and second aprons has only the taxpayer version of $6,064,000, per the same Hoops Rumors post, which runs up to two seasons, per Section 6(f)(1); a team above the second apron cannot use it (row K). The apron table lists no row for the minimum-salary exception, so that route stays open.

Two quieter effects matter. A veteran bought out in-season after earning more than $15,044,000 cannot sign with a team that would end above the first apron (row D), and a sign-and-trade cannot send a player to such a team (row C). Newly signed players also face trade dates, as the trade restrictions post explains. Rows C and D are the two an agent can check before a deal, because each bars a team that would finish above the first apron, per Section 2(e)(4).