New Orleans Pelicans

Are the New Orleans Pelicans over the apron in 2026-27?

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

No. The Pelicans are under both aprons for 2026-27 (projected), with $11.3M of room before the first.

Apron payroll

$197.7M

First apron

$209.0M ($11.3M)

Second apron

$222.0M ($24.3M)

Their apron payroll (contracts, dead money, and unlikely incentives) is $197.7M, 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? →