Capmath

Cleveland Cavaliers

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

Season2026-272027-282028-292029-302030-31

No. Over the second apron, the Cavaliers have no mid-level exception of any kind for 2026-27 (projected).
Full (non-taxpayer) MLE
$15.1M
Taxpayer MLE
$6.1M
Room MLE
$9.4M

Second-apron teams lose every version of the MLE. Outside free agents can only be signed to veteran-minimum contracts (a $2.2M cap charge for a veteran with three-plus years of service), and their own free agents can still be re-signed with Bird rights.

The rule behind this

The second apron is the NBA's harshest spending line, introduced in the 2023 CBA. It sits roughly $20M above the luxury-tax line.

What is the second apron? →What is the veteran minimum? →What are Bird rights? →

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.