Key takeaways
- Start every trade check by placing each team's post-trade payroll on the ladder: under the cap, over it, above the first apron or above the second.
- Over the cap but under the first apron, a team can take back at least 125% of outgoing salary plus $250,000, and more on small and mid-sized salaries.
- Above the first apron after the trade, a team cannot take back more salary than it sends out.
- Check the calendar before the cap: free agents signed in the summer generally cannot be traded until the later of three months or 15 December.
- Treat future first-round picks as restricted assets for a second-apron team, and note that under the May 2026 lottery reform newly traded picks cannot carry top-12 to top-15 protections.
An NBA trade is legal when every team in it can absorb the salary it takes in, stays inside the apron restrictions that apply to its payroll, and respects the waiting periods on recently signed players and the limits on future draft picks. In 2026-27 the salary test for a team over the cap works like this. If it stays under the first apron, it can take back 125% of the salary it sends out, plus $250,000, and more on smaller contracts. A team that would end up above the first apron, $209.015 million this season, cannot take back more than it sends.
This guide turns the rules into a checklist you can run on any proposed deal. The rules come from the 2023 collective bargaining agreement, in force through 2029-30, as summarised in the NBA's "CBA 101". The 2026-27 thresholds come from the league's salary-cap announcement of 30 June 2026. Where a dollar amount in the agreement is only published for an earlier season and indexed to the cap, we show our own arithmetic and say so.
The checklist
- Place each team on the ladder after the trade. Under the cap ($164.961m), over the cap, above the first apron ($209.015m) or above the second apron ($221.686m)? Every later step depends on the answer.
- Match the salary using the rule for that rung.
- Check aggregation if a team is combining several outgoing contracts.
- Check each player's trade date if anyone signed or re-signed recently.
- Check cash if money is changing hands.
- Check the picks, especially a second-apron team's future first-rounders.
- Check the calendar. The 2026-27 trade deadline is 11 February 2027.
Step 2: salary matching
A team under the cap can absorb incoming salary up to its cap room plus $250,000. Teams over the cap need a traded player exception, and there are three kinds.
| Exception | When it can be used | Salary that may come back |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | Within one year of trading a player away, one player at a time | 100% of the traded player's salary plus $250,000 |
| Aggregated standard | In the same trade, combining two or more outgoing players | 100% of the combined salaries plus $250,000 |
| Expanded | In the same trade | The greater of (a) the lesser of 200% plus $250,000 and 100% plus a cushion, and (b) 125% plus $250,000 |
Two qualifications change everything for expensive teams. The $250,000 allowances fall to zero if the team's payroll after the trade is above the first apron. And using the expanded exception is itself a first-apron transaction, so it is unavailable to a team that would finish above that line. The practical rule for a team over the first apron is simple: incoming salary cannot exceed outgoing salary.
The expanded exception in 2026-27
CBA 101 gives the cushion in clause (a) as $7.752 million for 2024-25 and says it grows at the same rate as the cap. Scaling it by the cap's growth since then ($7.752m × $164.961m ÷ $140.588m) puts it at about $9.096 million for 2026-27. That is our arithmetic, not a figure the league has published in the sources here. On that basis, a team under the first apron after the trade can take back:
| Salary sent out | Maximum salary back (2026-27, our arithmetic) | Which part of the formula applies |
|---|---|---|
| $5m | $10.25m | 200% plus $250,000 |
| $10m | about $19.10m | 100% plus the cushion |
| $20m | about $29.10m | 100% plus the cushion |
| $40m | $50.25m | 125% plus $250,000 |
The switch-over points fall at about $8.85 million and $35.38 million of outgoing salary. Below the first, a team can roughly double the salary it sends. Between them, it can add a fixed amount of about $9.1 million. Above the second, it can add a quarter.
Step 3: aggregation
Aggregating means adding several outgoing salaries together to take back one bigger contract. Three limits apply:
- The second apron. Using the aggregated standard exception is a second-apron transaction, so a team that would finish above $221.686 million cannot do it.
- The two-month rule. A player acquired with an exception cannot be aggregated by his new team for two months. A player acquired on or before 16 December is exempt on deadline day and the day before.
- Minimum contracts. Outside the period from 15 December to the deadline, a team aggregating three or more players and taking back fewer players than it sends can include at most one player on a minimum contract.
Step 4: when recently signed players can move
| Player | Earliest trade date |
|---|---|
| Draft pick on a new contract, or any two-way player | 30 days after signing |
| Free agent on a standard contract | The later of three months after signing and 15 December |
| Own free agent re-signed with Bird or Early Bird rights for more than 120% of his previous salary, by a team over the cap afterwards | The later of three months after signing and 15 January |
| Player on a one-year deal who will hold Bird or Early Bird rights | Only with his consent, and he loses those rights if traded |
That is why 15 December matters on the trade calendar: it is the first day many summer signings can be moved.
Two related rules round this out. An extension signed with a higher raise, longer term or bigger starting salary than the extend-and-trade limits allow blocks a trade for six months. And if a traded player is later waived by his new team, his old team cannot claim or re-sign him until the earlier of one year after the trade and the 1 July after his contract's last season.
Step 5: cash
Teams may send or receive cash in trades up to an annual limit. It was $7.24 million in 2024-25 and grows with the cap, which makes it about $8.5 million for 2026-27 by our arithmetic ($7.24m × $164.961m ÷ $140.588m ≈ $8.495m). Cash paid and cash received count separately; one does not cancel out the other. Paying cash is a second-apron transaction, so a team above that line cannot do it at all.
Step 6: draft picks
Picks are a common currency in rebuilding trades, which is why how draft order works in football leagues treats them as assets in their own right. Two recent limits, one from the 2023 agreement and one from the 2026 lottery reform, change how they can be traded:
- The frozen pick. A team whose payroll is above the second apron at the start of its last regular-season game has its first-round pick seven drafts later frozen, so it cannot be traded. If the team is above the line in at least two of the next four seasons, that pick drops to the end of the first round.
- No mid-lottery protections. The draft lottery overhaul approved on 28 May 2026 bars top-12 through top-15 protections on newly traded picks. It is part of the "3-2-1 Lottery" package, which the league adopted for the 2027, 2028 and 2029 drafts.
The same overhaul affects what a pick is worth. Under it, no team's pick may land first overall in two consecutive drafts or in the top five in three consecutive drafts.
Which rules bite at which payroll
| After the trade, the team is... | Expanded matching | Aggregation | Cash | Prior-year trade exception |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under the cap | Not needed: uses cap room plus $250,000 | Yes | Yes, within the limit | Not needed while it has room |
| Over the cap, under the first apron | Yes | Yes | Yes, within the limit | Yes |
| Between the aprons | No; incoming at most equal to outgoing | Yes | Yes, within the limit | Yes |
| Above the second apron | No | No | No | No |
Sign-and-trades
A sign-and-trade lets a team re-sign its own free agent in order to trade him straight away. The player must have finished the previous season on that roster. The contract must run three or four years, with the first year fully protected, and it must be signed before the regular season starts. It also cannot be signed with the non-taxpayer or room mid-level exception. Acquiring a player this way is a first-apron transaction, so the receiving team is hard-capped at the first apron for the rest of the season.
Using this as a GM
Three quick checks catch the problems that are easiest to miss. Is a team that will be above the first apron taking back more salary than it sends? Has any player signed too recently to move? Is a second-apron team combining contracts, paying cash or sending its frozen pick? Rebuild vs retool covers the strategic question these rules sit inside, and salary cap basics covers the general vocabulary.
Trades are part of GM Mode in Pro Basketball GM Franchise, alongside contracts and rotations. This page is a guide to the real league's agreement, not to the game's mechanics. The basketball draft simulator guide explains how the app's front-office side works. For more on the sport, see the basketball hub and the sports GM category.
Good to know
Frequently asked questions
How does salary matching work in an NBA trade?
What is salary aggregation?
When can a newly signed free agent be traded?
Can NBA teams trade cash?
Are there limits on trading draft picks?
Sources
- CBA 101: Highlights of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (prepared by the NBA, November 2024) (opens in a new tab)National Basketball Association — accessed
- CBA: 2023 NBA-NBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement (opens in a new tab)National Basketball Players Association — accessed
- NBA sets Salary Cap for 2026-27 season at $164.961 million (opens in a new tab)NBA Communications — accessed
- NBA Board of Governors approves new Draft Lottery system to address tanking (opens in a new tab)NBA.com — accessed
- Key dates for 2026-27 NBA season (opens in a new tab)NBA.com — accessed
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