LA Clippers

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

No. The Clippers are under both aprons for 2026-27, with $8.1M of room before the first.

Apron payroll

$200.9M

First apron

$209.0M ($8.1M)

Second apron

$221.7M ($20.8M)

Their apron payroll (contracts, dead money, drafted rookies, and unlikely incentives) is $200.9M, against a first apron of $209.0M and a second apron of $221.7M.

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? →