Charlotte Hornets 2026-27 Salary Cap Sheet

Updated · 2026–27 season

Charlotte Hornets
2026–27 Salary Cap Sheet
Payroll
$179.7M
Cap Space
-$14.7M
Tax Room
+$20.7M
1st Apron Room
+$28.8M
2nd Apron Room
+$41.5M
Hard Cap
1st Apron
Over Cap

Cap Position

Payroll$179.7M
Salary Cap$165.0M
Luxury Tax$200.4M
1st Apron$209.0M
2nd Apron$221.7M
KEYTeam OptionPlayer OptionMutual OptionEstimated SalaryNon-Guaranteed
Active Roster17/15 + 3/3
PosPlayerAge2026-272027-282028-292029-302030-31Notes
PGCoby White26$26.81M$24.67M$22.52MUFA / $39.7M
CNaz Reid27$23.28M$25.00M$26.72M$28.45MUFA / $42.7M
SGGrayson Allen30$18.13M$19.38MUFA / $29.1M
SFBrandon Miller23$15.10MUFA / $37.8M
PGDennis Schröder32$14.81M$15.51MUFA / $23.3M
PFGrant Williams27$14.27MUFA / $21.4M
PFDorian Finney-Smith33$14.20M$13.34M$13.34MUFA / $25.4M
SFRoyce O'Neale33$10.88M$11.63MUFA / $23.0M
SFKon Knueppel21$10.52M$11.02M$13.94MRFA / $34.8M
PFTidjane Salaün21$8.24M$10.45MRFA / $10.4M
PFHannes Steinbach20$5.23M$5.49M$5.75M$8.52MRFA / $21.3M
GChristian Anderson Jr20$4.26M$4.47M$4.68M$7.20MRFA / $18M
SGPat Connaughton33$3.82MUFA / $2.6M
SFLiam McNeeley20$2.90M$3.04M$5.49MRFA / $16.5M
PFMoussa Diabate24$2.46MUFA / $2.6M
CRyan Kalkbrenner24$2.41M$2.53M$2.74MRFA / $3.1M
SFSion James23$2.41M$2.53M$2.74MRFA / $3.1M
PFP.J Hall24Two-WayYear 2
GKylan Boswell21Two-WayYear 1
FMichael Ajayi23Two-WayYear 1
Total$179.70M
Cap Holds
PosPlayerAge2026-272027-282028-292029-302030-31Notes
CXavier Tillman27$2.45M
SGAntonio Reeves25$2.19M
Total$4.64M
Summary
CAP2026-272027-282028-292029-302030-31
Salary Cap$164,961,000$176,000,000$187,778,000$200,344,000$213,751,000
Active Salary$179,704,708$149,029,942$97,910,546$44,166,956
Dead Money
Luxury Tax Total$179,704,708$149,029,942$97,910,546$44,166,956
Luxury Tax Room$20,723,292$64,810,058$130,239,454$199,251,044$259,707,000
Apron Total$180,204,708$149,029,942$97,910,546$44,166,956
1st Apron Space$28,810,292$73,972,058$140,014,454$209,680,044$270,834,000
2nd Apron Space$41,481,292$87,491,058$154,438,454$225,069,044$287,253,000
Cap Holds$4,635,054
Total Cap Allocations$184,339,762$149,029,942$97,910,546$44,166,956$0
Cap Space (after holds)-$19,378,762$26,970,058$89,867,454$156,177,044$213,751,000

The Charlotte Hornets carry $179,704,708 in salary for 2026–27, the 24th largest payroll in the league.

That is $14.7M over the $165.0M salary cap, so the roster gets built through exceptions, re-signings and trades rather than cap space.

They sit +$20.7M below the $200.4M luxury-tax line and are not projected to pay tax this season.

With +$28.8M of room below the first apron and +$41.5M below the second, they keep the full set of exceptions and the ordinary salary-matching rules in a trade.

They are hard-capped at the 1st Apron ($209.0M), a ceiling the payroll cannot cross for the rest of the season by any means.

This team has 17 players on standard contracts and 3 two-way deals.

Coby White is the largest cap hit on the roster at $26,811,593, 14.9% of team payroll, ahead of Naz Reid ($23.3M) and Grayson Allen ($18.1M).

They have $59,114,782 of spending power available across 5 exceptions, the largest a $40.8M TPE (LaMelo Ball).

Committed salary drops to $149,029,942 for 2027-28, held by 13 players still under contract, against a projected $176,000,000 cap.