LA Clippers

Are the LA Clippers over the apron in 2026-27?

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

No. The Clippers are under both aprons for 2026-27 (projected), with $45.5M of room before the first.

Apron payroll

$163.5M

First apron

$209.0M ($45.5M)

Second apron

$222.0M ($58.5M)

Their apron payroll (contracts, dead money, and unlikely incentives) is $163.5M, against a first apron of $209.0M and a second apron of $222.0M (projected).

Staying under the aprons preserves the full toolkit: the full mid-level, the bi-annual exception, and sign-and-trade flexibility. Several of those tools hard-cap a team at an apron once used, which is why the margins matter.

The rule behind this

The first apron is a spending line a few million above the luxury tax. Crossing it costs a team roster-building tools rather than just money: no acquiring players via sign-and-trade, no full mid-level exception (only the smaller taxpayer MLE), no bi-annual exception, no signing buyout players who earned more than the MLE, and trades must return salary within 110% of what goes out.

What is the first apron? →What is the second apron? →What is the hard cap? →

More Clippers questions

Do the LA Clippers have cap space in 2026-27?Are the LA Clippers in the luxury tax in 2026-27?Do the LA Clippers have the mid-level exception in 2026-27?Can the LA Clippers sign a max free agent in 2026-27?Who are the LA Clippers free agents in 2026-27?What draft picks do the LA Clippers have?

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