The Los Angeles Lakers are going to have a nice chunk of cap space this summer. They are the only contender who can currently say as much.
Per multiple reports, the Lakers will go into the summer with about $60 million in cap space, making them the one contender who can boast as much:
Granted, having that much cap space may not be much of a benefit in this particular summer. LeBron James will easily be the most attractive unrestricted free agent on the market, with Kristaps Porziņģis the runner-up. As for players who could decline player options and hit the market, you are looking at Trae Young, James Harden, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, among others.
The pool of restricted free agents will have some interesting options as well, though that’s a risky market to dip your toes into given that the incumbent team can simply match the offer.
But having cap space also means being able to take back more salary in a trade then you send out, and the Lakers will have three first-round picks they could trade come the summer. That could give them some real juice if a star like—stop us if you’ve heard this one before—Giannis Antetokounmpo is shopped.
And there isn’t another contender set to have that level of cap space. Spotrac offers a look at each team’s potential cap space heading into the summer, which you can estimate by subtracting a team’s active payroll figure from the projected $166 million salary cap figure.
The Chicago Bulls could end up leading the pack among the non-contenders, with around $68 million in potential cap space once players like Anfernee Simons, Collin Sexton and Zach Collins come off the books, among others. And the Brooklyn Nets could have around $43 million in cap space.
Don’t be fooled by Detroit’s potential $35 million in cap space—that will surely be gobbled up by an extension for Jalen Duren.
Nearly half the teams in the NBA are currently projected to enter the 2026 season without any cap space at all. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Houston Rockets, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers and Golden State Warriors are among the contenders who fit that billing, though there are exceptions teams can use to sign external players despite being over the cap.