Charlotte Hornets

Do the Charlotte Hornets have cap space in 2026-27?

No. The Hornets are $5.5M over the $165.0M salary cap for 2026-27 on payroll, before free-agent holds.

This includes a projected signing that is not yet official, so these figures are an estimate.

Salary cap

$165.0M

Team cap salary

$197.4M

Cap space

-$32.5M

Free-agent holds

$26.9M

Their cap salary is $197.4M: $161.0M in active contracts, $0K in dead money, $9.5M in drafted-rookie holds, and $26.9M in cap holds for their own free agents. Even renouncing every free-agent hold would leave them $5.5M over, so cap space is not a realistic path this season.

Being over the cap is normal in the NBA. It means the Hornets build through exceptions instead: their mid-level (if their spending tier allows one), minimum contracts, and Bird rights to re-sign their own players.

The rule behind this

Cap space is how far a team's cap salary sits below the salary cap. It is the most flexible way to add players: cap space can absorb any contract up to its size, with no matching rules.

What is cap space? →What does renouncing a free agent mean? →How do teams build over the cap? →