The Chicago Bulls' cap situation has been under the spotlight since July, with the team's hard cap preventing them from adding another player prior to the season. The Bulls' inflexibility makes them the most-discussed hard-capped club, but Chicago isn't the only team that faces that situation. Any club that committed more than $3.09MM in mid-level money to a player's 2012/13 salary has to deal with a hard cap as well.
In some cases, that hard cap will make no difference. A team like the Hawks, for instance, has more than $7MM in breathing room before they approach the $74,307,000 cap. As such, their flexibility shouldn't be handicapped as the trade deadline nears.
A few contenders though, such as the Celtics, are close enough to the hard cap that it'll be a factor they'll need to consider before making trades or signings later on in the season. While minimum-salary signings are still feasible, trades that involve taking on salary may be a no-go.
Here's the complete list of clubs whose team salary can't exceed $74,307,000 at any time this season, along with their current team salaries (per ShamSports):
- Bulls: $73,548,398
- Celtics: $71,918,029
- Warriors: $71,155,896
- Clippers: $69,866,604
- Spurs: $69,157,865
- Hawks: $66,537,025