Do the Denver Nuggets have cap space in 2028-29?

Real payroll (contracts plus dead money) is $119.6M, which is $69.3M under the $188.9M cap. What erases the room is $96.9M in cap holds for their own free agents and unsigned picks; those count against the cap only, never the tax or aprons. Renouncing every free-agent hold (keeping draft picks) would open $55.6M of room, at the cost of their Bird rights.

So the Nuggets are "over the cap" only in the cap-room sense. Like most of the league they build through exceptions (their mid-level if their tier allows one, minimums) and Bird rights to re-sign their own players.

This is a forward look at 2028-29: it counts the contracts, options, and cap holds already on the Nuggets books for that season. Signings, trades, and option decisions between now and then will move these numbers.