New Orleans Pelicans

Do the New Orleans Pelicans have the mid-level exception in 2028-29?

Season2026-27 2027-282028-292029-30 2030-31

Yes. The Pelicans can offer the full non-taxpayer mid-level: up to $17.2M starting salary for 2028-29 (projected).

Full (non-taxpayer) MLE

$17.2M

Taxpayer MLE

$7.0M

Room MLE

$10.7M

The full MLE runs up to 4 years and can be split among multiple players. It is the main way over-the-cap teams add outside free agents.

The catch: using it hard-caps the Pelicans at the first apron ($239.0M) for the rest of the season.

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.

The rule behind this

The mid-level exception (MLE) is the main tool over-the-cap teams use to sign outside free agents. The full ("non-taxpayer") MLE allows a contract starting around $14M for up to four years, and can be split among multiple players.

What is the mid-level exception (non-taxpayer)? →What is the hard cap? →What is the bi-annual exception? →

More Pelicans questions

Do the New Orleans Pelicans have cap space in 2028-29?Are the New Orleans Pelicans in the luxury tax in 2028-29?Are the New Orleans Pelicans over the apron in 2028-29?Can the New Orleans Pelicans sign a max free agent in 2028-29?Who are the New Orleans Pelicans free agents in 2028-29?What draft picks do the New Orleans Pelicans have?

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