Cleveland Cavaliers

Do the Cleveland Cavaliers have the mid-level exception in 2026-27?

Only the small one. Over the first apron, the Cavaliers are limited to the taxpayer mid-level: $6.1M for 2026-27.

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

Full (non-taxpayer) MLE

$15.0M

Taxpayer MLE

$6.1M

Room MLE

$9.4M

The taxpayer MLE is shorter (up to 2 years) and roughly a third of the full mid-level. Using it hard-caps the team at the second apron ($221.7M).

The rule behind this

The taxpayer mid-level exception is the reduced MLE available to teams above the first apron: a shorter (up to 2 years) and smaller contract than the full mid-level.

What is the taxpayer mid-level exception? →What is the first apron? →What is the hard cap? →

More Cavaliers questions

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

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