Charlotte Hornets

Do the Charlotte Hornets have the mid-level exception in 2026-27?

Season2026-272027-28 2028-29 2029-30 2030-31

Yes. The Hornets can offer the full non-taxpayer mid-level: up to $15.1M starting salary for 2026-27 (projected).

Full (non-taxpayer) MLE

$15.1M

Taxpayer MLE

$6.1M

Room MLE

$9.4M

The full MLE runs up to 4 years and can be split among multiple players. It is the main way over-the-cap teams add outside free agents.

The catch: using it hard-caps the Hornets at the first apron ($209.0M) for the rest of the season.

The rule behind this

The mid-level exception (MLE) is the main tool over-the-cap teams use to sign outside free agents. The full ("non-taxpayer") MLE allows a contract starting around $14M for up to four years, and can be split among multiple players.

What is the mid-level exception (non-taxpayer)? →What is the hard cap? →What is the bi-annual exception? →

More Hornets questions

Do the Charlotte Hornets have cap space in 2026-27?Are the Charlotte Hornets in the luxury tax in 2026-27?Are the Charlotte Hornets over the apron in 2026-27?Can the Charlotte Hornets sign a max free agent in 2026-27?Who are the Charlotte Hornets free agents in 2026-27?What draft picks do the Charlotte Hornets have?

Numbers come straight from the live Hornets cap sheet, recomputed whenever the data updates.