NBA Luxury Tax Tracker
Projected 2026-27 luxury tax: which teams are over the tax line and what they owe. 6 teams are projected into the tax, a combined $309.4M in penalties.
6 of the 30 clubs are projected into the luxury tax for 2026-27, owing a combined $309.4M in penalties. The remaining 24 clubs sit beneath the tax line and owe nothing.
OKC faces the largest bill at $208.3M on a tax payroll of $249.4M. Tax-paying clubs carry $1.31B in combined taxable payroll. The tax is charged on salary above the tax line rather than the cap, which is why a club can sit over the cap and still owe nothing here.
| # | Team | Tax Payroll | Est. Tax Bill | Total Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | $249.4M | $208.3M | $266.5M |
| 2 | Cleveland Cavaliers | $222.2M | $49.2M | $263.4M |
| 3 | Orlando Magic | $217.0M | $27.3M | $245.3M |
| 4 | Denver Nuggets | $213.8M | $16.0M | $264.0M |
| 5 | New York Knicks | $205.5M | $4.5M | $262.1M |
| 6 | Sacramento Kings | $205.2M | $4.2M | $255.6M |
| 7 | Brooklyn Nets | $123.0M | $0 | $166.3M |
| 8 | Charlotte Hornets | $148.4M | $0 | $187.3M |
| 9 | Utah Jazz | $142.4M | $0 | $211.7M |
| 10 | Indiana Pacers | $200.8M | $0 | $212.4M |
| 11 | Toronto Raptors | $193.1M | $0 | $217.1M |
| 12 | New Orleans Pelicans | $196.3M | $0 | $226.1M |
| 13 | Houston Rockets | $187.5M | $0 | $226.3M |
| 14 | San Antonio Spurs | $153.5M | $0 | $229.8M |
| 15 | Boston Celtics | $187.7M | $0 | $230.1M |
| 16 | Miami Heat | $165.6M | $0 | $234.9M |
| 17 | Detroit Pistons | $135.5M | $0 | $238.9M |
| 18 | Chicago Bulls | $95.4M | $0 | $239.2M |
| 19 | Philadelphia 76ers | $182.8M | $0 | $240.8M |
| 20 | Washington Wizards | $174.6M | $0 | $240.8M |
| 21 | Atlanta Hawks | $153.1M | $0 | $252.4M |
| 22 | LA Clippers | $162.2M | $0 | $255.7M |
| 23 | Los Angeles Lakers | $107.5M | $0 | $260.5M |
| 24 | Minnesota Timberwolves | $190.4M | $0 | $262.0M |
| 25 | Golden State Warriors | $181.5M | $0 | $284.6M |
| 26 | Memphis Grizzlies | $146.9M | $0 | $166.2M |
| 27 | Milwaukee Bucks | $181.9M | $0 | $215.6M |
| 28 | Portland Trail Blazers | $170.2M | $0 | $231.1M |
| 29 | Phoenix Suns | $185.7M | $0 | $238.8M |
| 30 | Dallas Mavericks | $152.4M | $0 | $249.5M |
How the luxury tax works
- Tax payroll
- The salary total the tax is assessed against. It is calculated differently from the cap figure, which is why a club's tax payroll and its total cap number rarely match.
- Tax line
- A threshold set above the salary cap. Only salary above this line is taxed, so a club can sit well over the cap and still owe nothing.
- Tax bill
- What the club is projected to pay. The rate is progressive: each additional band of salary above the line is charged at a higher multiple than the one before, which is why bills rise steeply rather than in proportion to payroll.
- Repeater penalty
- Clubs that pay the tax in most of the preceding seasons are charged at a higher rate again. The same payroll can therefore produce very different bills at two different clubs.
Figures for a season in progress are projections and move as rosters change. Team-by-team cap positions are on the cap page, and the individual contracts behind them are in the contract book.
Salary data via Spotrac. Updated daily.