A little over a month into free agency, a number of teams have already made use of their mid-level or bi-annual exceptions, and only have minimum-salary deals left to offer. Amidst the flurry of July signings, it can be hard to track which teams have cap space, which are using exceptions, and how they're signing particular players.
So let's take this opportunity to look back on how teams have spent their mid-level exceptions to date. A refresher: Teams over the cap are permitted to use the full $5MM mid-level exception. However, if they use more than $3.09MM, the amount of the taxpayer mid-level, their team salary must not pass the luxury tax apron of about $74.3MM at any point during the season. Meanwhile, teams that dip below the cap receive a mini mid-level or "room" exception worth $2.575MM. Here's the breakdown of the MLE activity to date:
Teams with full $5MM mid-level exceptions:
- Atlanta Hawks: Used. Signed Lou Williams to a $5MM first-year salary.
- Boston Celtics: Used. Signed Jason Terry to a $5MM first-year salary.
- Chicago Bulls: $1,059,000 remaining. Signed Kirk Hinrich to a $3,941,000 first-year salary.
- Denver Nuggets: $3,325,359 remaining. Signed Anthony Randolph to a $1,674,641 first-year salary.
- Detroit Pistons: $2.5MM remaining. Signed Vyacheslav Kravtsov to a $1.5MM first-year salary. Signed Kyle Singler to a $1MM first-year salary.
- Golden State Warriors: Unconfirmed. The Warriors likely used most of their mid-level to sign Carl Landry and Draymond Green. First-year salaries for those two players are still unknown, but it appears the Warriors will have well under $1MM remaining on their mid-level.
- Los Angeles Clippers: Used. Signed Jamal Crawford to a $5MM first-year salary.
- Milwaukee Bucks: $4.35MM remaining. Signed Doron Lamb to a $650K first-year salary.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: $3,326,396 remaining. Signed Hasheem Thabeet to a $1.2MM first-year salary. Signed Hollis Thompson to a $473,604 first-year salary.
- Orlando Magic: $5MM remaining.
- San Antonio Spurs: $500K remaining. Signed Boris Diaw to a $4.5MM first-year salary.
- Utah Jazz: $2.5MM remaining. Signed Randy Foye to a $2.5MM first-year salary.
- Washington Wizards: $5MM remaining.
Teams with taxpayer $3.09MM mid-level exceptions:
- Brooklyn Nets: Used. Signed Mirza Teletovic to a $3.09MM first-year salary.
- Los Angeles Lakers: $3.09MM remaining.
- Memphis Grizzlies: $90K remaining. Signed Jerryd Bayless to a $3MM first-year salary.
- Miami Heat: Used. Signed Ray Allen to a $3.09MM first-year salary.
- New York Knicks: Used. Signed Jason Kidd to a $3.09MM first-year salary.
Teams with $2.575MM room exceptions:
- Charlotte Bobcats: $2.575MM remaining.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: $2.575MM remaining.
- Dallas Mavericks: $1,974,509 remaining. Signed Jae Crowder to a $600,491 first-year salary.
- Houston Rockets: $2.575MM remaining.
- Indiana Pacers: $2.575MM remaining.
- Minnesota Timberwolves: Used. Signed Greg Stiemsma to a $2.575MM first-year salary.
- New Orleans Hornets: $2.575MM remaining.
- Philadelphia 76ers: $2.575MM remaining.
- Phoenix Suns: $2.575MM remaining.
- Portland Trail Blazers: $2.575MM remaining.
- Sacramento Kings: $2.575MM remaining.
- Toronto Raptors: Used. Signed Aaron Gray to a $2.575MM first-year salary.
Storyteller's Contracts and HoopsWorld were used in the creation of this post.