Hoops Rumors Originals

The rules governing the number of players an NBA team can carry on its roster vary depending on the time of year.

Between the start of the regular season and the last day of a team’s season, a club isn’t allowed to carry more than 15 players on its roster, except in rare instances. Generally, when a club with 15 players on its roster acquires a new player, it must waive someone to clear a spot. In the offseason though, teams are permitted to carry up to 21 players on their rosters.

The regular season limit applies to players on standard contracts, while the offseason limit applies to players on any form of contract.

During both the regular season and offseason, a team is permitted to carry up to three players on two-way contracts, which are a non-standard form of deal that allows a player to be transferred back and forth between the NBA and G League.

In the regular season, two-way players don’t count toward the 15-man limit, meaning teams can essentially have 18 players under contract at a time. However, two-way players do count toward the 21-man limit in the offseason. If a club is carrying 21 players on standard NBA contracts in August, it can’t sign a player to a two-way deal without waiving someone.

[RELATED: 2023/24 NBA Roster Counts]

In some cases, a team ravaged by injuries will receive one or more extra spots on its regular season roster via the hardship provision. The NBA can grant a hardship exception – which allows the club to sign a player to a 10-day contract without requiring a roster spot – when a team has at least four players who have missed three consecutive games and who are expected to remain sidelined for at least the next two weeks due to injury or illness.

A team qualifies for a single hardship exception when it has four players who meet that criteria, but it can become eligible for additional hardship exceptions if it has a fifth or sixth injured/ill player. For example, if a club has six players who have missed at least three consecutive games due to injury and are expected to remain out for two more weeks, it could be granted three hardship exceptions, allowing the club to temporarily carry three extra players beyond its usual 15 (not counting two-ways).

A club is also permitted to add a 16th man to its regular season roster if it has a player on the suspended list. A player who is suspended by his team for four or more games may be placed on the suspended list following the third game of his ban, while a player suspended by the NBA for six or more games can be placed on the suspended list following the fifth game of his ban. Teams can’t make use of the suspended list for shorter suspensions.

Generally speaking, the fewest number of players an NBA team can have on its roster during the regular season is 14, not counting two-way players. However, a team is permitted to dip to 12 or 13 players for a limited period. That club can’t carry fewer than 14 players on standard contracts for more than two weeks at a time or more than 28 total days during a regular season.

The rules for in-game roster minimums and maximums are as follows:

• A team can have between 12 or 15 players listed as active for a game.
• A team can carry as few as 11 active players for up to two weeks at a time or up to 28 total days during a regular season.
• A team must have at least eight players dressed for a game (at least three or four players beyond those eight must technically be listed as active).

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in 2012 and 2013 by Luke Adams.

The mid-level exception is the most common way for over-the-cap NBA teams to sign free agents from other clubs for more than the minimum salary. It helps ensure that virtually every team heads into the offseason with a little spending flexibility.

Teams are eligible to use specific types of mid-level exceptions depending on their proximity to the salary cap. The most lucrative form of mid-level is available to teams that are over the cap but below the first tax apron. Clubs above the first apron, and even those operating under the cap, have access to lesser versions of the MLE.

Here’s a breakdown of how the various forms of the exception are structured:

For teams over the cap and below the first tax apron:

• Commonly called either the full mid-level exception or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
• Contract can cover up to four seasons.
• First-year salary is worth $12,405,000 in 2023/24; maximum four-year value is $53,341,500.
• Once used, the team cannot surpass the first tax apron (approximately $7MM above the tax line in 2023/24) for the remainder of the season.
• Beginning in 2024/25, this form of mid-level exception can be used to acquire a non-free-agent via trade or waiver claim, as long as his contract fits into the exception (in terms of years and dollars). Only the player’s current-year salary must fit into the MLE.

For teams operating under the cap:

• Commonly called the room exception.
• Contract can cover no more than three seasons.
• First-year salary is worth $7,723,000 in 2023/24; maximum three-year value is $24,327,450.
• Beginning in 2024/25, this form of mid-level exception can be used to acquire a non-free-agent via trade or waiver claim, as long as his contract fits into the exception (in terms of years and dollars). Only the player’s current-year salary must fit into the room exception.

For teams over the cap and the first tax apron, but below the second apron:

• Commonly called the taxpayer mid-level exception.
• Contract can cover up to two seasons.
• First-year salary is worth $5,000,000 in 2023/24; maximum two-year value is $10,250,000.
• Once used, the team cannot surpass the second tax apron ($17.5MM above the tax line in 2023/24) for the remainder of the season.

For teams over the cap and both tax aprons:

• No mid-level exception is available.

Each form of the mid-level allows for annual raises of up to 5% of the value of the first season’s salary.

Teams can use their entire mid-level exception to sign one player. However, only one club has taken this route so far in 2023/24, with the Raptors signing Dennis Schröder to a multiyear contract that’s worth $12,405,000 in year one.

Teams are also allowed to split the mid-level among multiple players, and that has become an increasingly common course of action. For instance, the Mavericks have used their MLE to sign Seth Curry ($4MM) and Dante Exum ($3MM) so far in ’23/24 and still have more than $5MM remaining.

In the past, players drafted in the second round often signed contracts using a portion of the mid-level because the exception allows teams to offer more years and more money than the minimum salary exception provides. However, the new second-round pick exception has all but eliminated the need for teams to use the MLE on second-round picks.

Still, if a team wants to sign an undrafted free agent to a longer-term contract or convert a two-way player to a multiyear deal, the mid-level can come in handy. The Pelicans used their MLE this summer to move E.J. Liddell from his two-way deal to a three-year contract that begins at the minimum ($1,801,769).

Some front offices prefer to leave all or part of their mid-level exception unused in the offseason so it’s still available during the second half of the regular season. At that point, a contender could dangle its MLE in an effort to outbid rivals for top players on the buyout market. A non-contending club, on the other hand, could use its MLE to lock up an intriguing developmental player to a long-term contract.

Unlike the bi-annual exception, the mid-level exception can be used every season. So whether or not a team uses any of its mid-level in 2023/24, each club below the second tax apron in ’24/25 will have the opportunity to use some form of the MLE.

The amount of each form of mid-level exception increases – or decreases – at the same rate as the salary cap, ensuring that its value relative to cap room remains about the same from year to year. So if the salary cap rises by 10%, the mid-level values would rise by the same amount.

Here are a few more notes related to the mid-level exception:

• A contract signed using a mid-level exception can include bonuses as long as the player’s maximum potential compensation doesn’t exceed the maximum value of the exception. For example, in 2023/24, a team can’t sign a player to a contract using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception that has a base salary of $12,405,000 and another $1MM in incentives. But a contract with a base salary of $11,405,000 and $1MM in incentives is permitted.
• A team is only allowed to use one form of mid-level exception in a given season. For instance, an over-the-cap club that uses a portion of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception before shedding salary and dipping below the cap would not then be permitted to use the room exception.
• On the day after the trade deadline, the value of a team’s unused mid-level exception begins to prorate downward. The exact amount of proration depends on how much of the MLE was unused as of January 10 and how many total days there are in the regular season. For example, if a team had $3MM of its mid-level left on January 10 and there are 174 days in that season, the MLE would decrease in value by $17,241 per day (1/174th of $3MM).

Note: This is a Hoops Rumors Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to trades, free agency, or other aspects of the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Larry Coon’s Salary Cap FAQ was used in the creation of this post.

Earlier versions of this post were published in previous years.