Phoenix Suns
Tax and apron rules
2026-27. Numbers from the salary cap sheet. Tax is billed on the last day of the regular season.
$216.2MTax payroll
$15.8MOver the tax
$7.2MOver first apron
$5.5MUnder second apron
League lines
| Year | Cap | Tax | First apron | Second apron |
|---|
| 2026-27 | $165.0M | $200.4M | $209.0M | $221.7M |
| 2027-28 | $174.0M | $211.5M | $220.5M | $233.9M |
| 2028-29 | $182.7M | $222.0M | $231.5M | $245.6M |
| 2029-30 | $191.9M | $233.1M | $243.1M | $257.9M |
This year
| Line | Amount |
|---|
| Salary cap | $164,961,000 |
| Luxury tax | $200,428,000 |
| First apron | $209,015,000 |
| Second apron | $221,686,000 |
| Taxpayer mid-level | $6,064,000 |
Tax bill
A team whose tax payroll finishes above $200,428,000 pays a per-dollar tax on the overage. The increment is $6,064,000. Rates rise in each increment. A team that paid tax in three of the prior four seasons is a repeater and uses the higher column.
| Overage | Standard | Repeater |
|---|
| $0 to $6.064M | $1.50 | $2.50 |
| $6.064M to $12.128M | $1.75 | $2.75 |
| $12.128M to $18.192M | $2.50 | $3.50 |
| $18.192M to $24.256M | $3.25 | $4.25 |
| Each $6.064M after | +$0.50 | +$0.50 |
On the current $15.8 million overage:
| Status | Estimated bill |
|---|
| Standard | $28.9 million |
| Repeater | $44.7 million |
Estimate only. Incentives, two-ways converted, and last-day roster changes move the bill. Phoenix paid tax in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Repeater status for 2026-27 depends on 2025-26.
Where the payment goes
- Up to 50 percent is split equally among teams that finish under the tax line.
- The rest is kept by the NBA for league purposes. In recent years that share has funded revenue sharing.
- The league can keep the full amount. It is not required to send half to non-tax teams.
- The bill is due after the season. It is not paid to the team the Suns just played.
Rules above the first apron
Phoenix is $7.2 million over the first apron. A team whose salary would exceed $209,015,000 after a move cannot:
- Use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($15.044 million).
- Use the bi-annual exception ($5.477 million).
- Acquire a player in a sign-and-trade.
- Take back more than 100 percent of outgoing salary in a trade (no expanded traded-player exception).
- Use a trade exception created before the start of this offseason.
- Sign a player waived during the season whose pre-waiver salary was above the non-taxpayer mid-level.
Still allowed: taxpayer mid-level ($6.064 million), veteran minimums, drafting and signing own picks, matching incoming and outgoing salary 1-for-1, re-signing own free agents.
Rules above the second apron
Phoenix is $5.5 million under the second apron. These rules apply only if tax payroll finishes at or above $221,686,000.
- No mid-level exception of any size.
- Cannot aggregate two or more salaries in a trade.
- Cannot take back more salary than is sent out.
- Cannot use a preexisting trade exception.
- Cannot send cash in a trade.
- Cannot acquire a player who was just signed and traded.
- Buyout market above the minimum is closed.
- A first-round pick seven years out is frozen if the team finishes the regular season above the line.
- A first-round pick moves to the end of the round if the team is over the second apron in two seasons out of four.
Salary cap · Future picks · Roster