How does NBA cap space work?
Room below the salary cap. Teams with room sign free agents directly and can absorb incoming trade salary into the space (plus a small $250k cushion) without sending matching salary back.
2023 CBA · Art. VII
The 2026-27 lines
The part everyone forgets
Cap space isn't cap minus payroll — unrenounced free agents sit on the books as cap holds. To spend room you renounce the holds, which surrenders those players' Bird rights. And once a team uses room, it forfeits the regular MLEs and bi-annual exception for the year, keeping only the smaller Room MLE.
Common questions
What did room cost the Lakers in July 2026?
Operating as a room team meant renouncing LeBron James' hold and losing the non-taxpayer MLE and BAE for the season — your offseason starts with all of that already applied.
See it enforced, not just explained.
Build a trade or signing and the sim rules on it, with the relevant citation when one applies.