What is trade exception?
A trade exception is a credit an NBA team creates by sending out more salary than it takes back in a trade. For up to one year, the team can use it to absorb another player’s salary without sending out matching salary.
How it works
The exception equals the difference between the outgoing salary and the incoming salary, and it expires one year after the trade that created it.
It cannot be combined with other salaries or exceptions to take in a bigger contract; the incoming salary must fit within the exception.
Teams above the first apron cannot take back more salary than they send out. Using a trade exception created before the current offseason hard-caps a team at the first apron, $209,015,000 in 2026-27.
The numbers
From the trade
Salary difference
Stands alone
An example
A team trades a $12 million player for a draft pick and takes back no salary. It now holds a $12 million exception it can use for a year to take a player from a team trying to cut payroll.
What it means for a player
Trade exceptions explain surprise deadline deals. A team holding one can absorb your contract without sending anyone back, which makes you easier to move.
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.