As is seemingly a yearly tradition at this point, the NBA’s salary cap for next season will rise. This time, though, it’ll do so at an even higher number than anticipated, according to a report from Fred Katz of The Athletic.
“The NBA recently informed teams of its updated salary-cap projections for the 2027-28 season, league sources told The Athletic, with the new projections coming in $2 million higher than the league’s previous numbers,” Katz wrote.
This year, the salary cap is set for $165 million
while the luxury tax will sit at $200 million. Both numbers will swell about 7%, according to Katz’s reporting.
“Those sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because the projections have not been made public, said the league is now projecting the 2027-28 salary cap will rise to $176 million and the luxury tax line will be $213 million,” he wrote.
The Los Angeles Lakers are a luxury tax team for 2026-27 and will presumably remain as such in 2027-28, though the increased projections certainly benefits their wiggle room.
If Jarred Vanderbilt exercises his $13.2 million player option, their payroll across just 12 players is $201 million. Granted, that includes team options for Dalton Knecht ($6.4 million), Jaden Hardy ($6 million), Adou Thiero ($2.5 million), and Bronny James ($2.4 million), which total $17.5 million.
Kevon Looney, Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams are all on one-year minimum deals this season. The hope is they play well enough for the Lakers to want to retain their services, even if it pushes them into the luxury tax. They’ll certainly need at least a couple of them to flourish and help bolster the rotation, which may be a bit thin and could stand to have a few players solidify themselves as reliable mainstays.
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