The wave of buyouts that follows the NBA trade deadline commonly provides the most fertile free agent market since the summer. Most players who come free via buyout sign for the minimum salary, but some, like David Lee, sign for more than that. Lee reportedly received a prorated portion of the Mavs’ room exception, which Dallas didn’t spend in the offseason. Some teams use up all their exceptions amid their summer spending, while others hang back, knowing they might be able to snag a contributor in the late going.
Exceptions depreciate over time. Some, like the minimum salary exception, prorate beginning with the first day of the regular season. The mid-level, room and biannual exceptions prorate starting January 10th. Each goes down by 1/170th each day, representing the 170 days in the regular season. Disabled player exceptions don’t prorate, but they expire March 10th.
Here’s a look at what the minimum salary is worth today for players of each level of experience. These amounts will go down by 1/170th every day until season’s end. Note that teams aren’t responsible for any more than the two-year veteran’s amount, as the league picks up the rest for longer-tenured vets.
Rookie: $135,906
One year: $218,721
Two year: $245,177
Three year: $253,996
Four year: $262,815
Five year: $284,862
Six year: $306,909
Seven year: $328,955
Eight year: $351,002
Nine year: $352,750
10-plus year: $388,025
Below are the exceptions available to each team. Note that some teams will have different values for the same exceptions because they’ve used partial amounts. Note also that teams can also use their trade exceptions to claim players off waivers, but they can’t use them to sign free agents.
- *Bucks — Room exception: $1,164,800 (goes down $9,788 daily); minimum salary exception
- Bulls — Taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $788,200 (goes down $6,624 daily); minimum salary exception
- Cavaliers — Minimum salary exception
- Celtics — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Clippers — Minimum salary exception
- Grizzlies — Minimum salary exception
- Hawks — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Heat — Taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $1,995,635 (goes down $16,770 daily); minimum salary exception
- Hornets — Non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $3,824,800 (goes down $32,141 daily); minimum salary exception
- Jazz — Cap room: $5,182,127; room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Kings — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Knicks — Minimum salary exception
- Lakers — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- **Magic — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Mavericks — Minimum salary exception
- Nets — Non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $1,724,800 (goes down $14,494 daily); disabled player exception: $3.15MM (doesn’t depreciate but expires March 10th); minimum-salary exception
- Nuggets — Minimum salary exception
- Pacers — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- ***Pelicans — Biannual exception: $1,497,300 (goes down 12,582 daily); disabled player exception: $1,691,012 (doesn’t depreciate but expires March 10th); minimum salary exception
- Pistons — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Raptors — Minimum salary exception
- ****Rockets — Non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $891,944 (goes down $5,247 daily); minimum salary exception
- Sixers — Cap room: $9,630,651; room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Spurs — Minimum salary exception
- Suns — Room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); $5.464MM disabled player exception (doesn’t depreciate but expires March 10th); minimum salary exception
- Timberwolves — Non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $1,059,799 (goes down $8,906 daily); biannual exception: $1,497,300 (goes down 12,582 daily); minimum salary exception
- Thunder — Taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $2,363,200 (goes down $19,859 daily); minimum salary exception
- Trail Blazers — Cap room: $7,739,113; room exception: $1,969,800 (goes down $16,553 daily); minimum salary exception
- Warriors — Taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $613,200 (goes down $5,153 daily); minimum salary exception
- Wizards — Non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception: $1,024,800 (goes down $8,612 daily); $2,806,750 disabled player exception (doesn’t depreciate but expires March 10th); minimum salary exception
* — Assumes that the Bucks signed Steve Novak for the minimum salary.
** — The Magic can renounce their trade exception to open as much as $6,484,419 in cap room.
*** — The Pelicans may also have a small amount left on their mid-level exception, depending on how much they spent on their latest contract for Bryce Dejean-Jones.
**** — The Rockets are only $524,148 shy of their hard cap, so they can’t spend beyond that amount no matter the value of their exceptions.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages, The Vertical and Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ were used in the creation of this post.