New Orleans Pelicans

Do the New Orleans Pelicans have cap space in 2026-27?

No. The Pelicans are $23.4M over the $165.0M salary cap for 2026-27 on payroll, before free-agent holds.

Salary cap

$165.0M

Team cap salary

$199.8M

Cap space

-$34.8M

Free-agent holds

$11.5M

Their cap salary is $199.8M: $188.3M in active contracts, $0K in dead money, $0K in drafted-rookie holds, and $11.5M in cap holds for their own free agents. Even renouncing every free-agent hold would leave them $23.4M over, so cap space is not a realistic path this season.

Being over the cap is normal in the NBA. It means the Pelicans build through exceptions instead: their mid-level (if their spending tier allows one), minimum contracts, and Bird rights to re-sign their own players.

The rule behind this

Cap space is how far a team's cap salary sits below the salary cap. It is the most flexible way to add players: cap space can absorb any contract up to its size, with no matching rules.

What is cap space? →What does renouncing a free agent mean? →How do teams build over the cap? →