What is bi-annual exception?
The bi-annual exception lets an over-the-cap NBA team sign a player for up to $5,477,000 in 2026-27, on a deal of up to two years. A team can use it only every other season.
How it works
It is a smaller companion to the mid-level. A team cannot use it in two consecutive league years, and it is not available to a team that went under the cap to use room.
It is also off limits above the first apron. Using it hard-caps the team at the first apron for the rest of the league year, so a team near that line gives up flexibility to use it.
Like the mid-level, it can be used to sign a free agent outright. It resets in value each year with the cap.
The numbers
Starting salary
Per the CBA
First apron
An example
A team that used its full mid-level on a starter can still add a backup center with the bi-annual exception, as long as it did not use the bi-annual exception last season and stays under the first apron.
What it means for a player
A bi-annual offer usually signals a rotation role on a team that has already spent its mid-level. It pays well above the minimum, but the two-year limit means you return to free agency quickly.
Sources
Reviewed September 26, 2026 by McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM, certified WNBA player agent and former certified NBA agent. Figures are refreshed each July. General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.