Do the New Orleans Pelicans have cap space in 2028-29?

Real payroll (contracts plus dead money) is $74.9M, which is $114.0M under the $188.9M cap. What erases the room is $129.0M 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 $103.4M of room, at the cost of their Bird rights.

So the Pelicans 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 Pelicans books for that season. Signings, trades, and option decisions between now and then will move these numbers.