CapDesk.

Data Ledger — we show our work

Every number on CapDesk traces to a real public source, every unknown renders as “—” instead of a guess, and every mistake we catch is logged here — publicly, with a timestamp. This page is the method and the receipts.

How we verify

Two salary tiers, always labeled

Verified — an exact 2026-27 guaranteed cap hit from Basketball-Reference (all 30 teams) (as of 2026-07-06). Plain numbers; the ONLY tier the CBA trade engine computes with. Reported — a deal reported by named national reporters but not yet posted on Basketball-Reference (new signings during the FA moratorium): shown tagged rep.est, cap hit estimated flat from the reported total/years, source cited on the figure (curated 2026-07-06, 9 entries). Two-way deals are tagged (no cap charge). Neither → “—”. A reported estimate never enters trade-legality math.

Live rosters, reconciled

Rosters come from ESPN at view time — the current roster can't go stale — and are cross-checked against the live transaction wire (the NBA's official player-movement log is the reconciliation spine), so a just-traded player never shows on the team he left.

A golden-tested CBA engine

The trade-legality engine is validated against published worked examples from four seasons of real CBA figures (2022-23 through 2026-27) — exact matches to published trade-machine numbers, run in CI on every change.

A daily automated cross-check

A daily job cross-references our figures against ESPN's contract data and Basketball-Reference's contract pages (rotating through all 30 teams) — deterministic numeric comparison, no AI in the loop. Differences past max($250K, 1%), players we're missing, and reported deals ready to promote to verified all land below, automatically. (Spotrac blocks datacenter requests — it is probed and skipped gracefully, noted here for honesty.)

Open flags (268)

Raised by the daily cross-check and awaiting review — shown before they're fixed, because that's what showing your work means. Last check: 2026-08-24.

  • MISSING2026-07-22· last seen 2026-08-24Tristan Vukcevic (WAS)· ESPN roster/contract

    Tristan Vukcevic (WAS): ESPN shows him under contract beyond 2025-26 (2 yrs remaining) but we have no verified or reported 2026-27 figure — he renders "—".

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-20· last seen 2026-08-24Victor Wembanyama (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Victor Wembanyama: our verified 2026-27 figure $16,868,246 vs BBR's current $43,500,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-20· last seen 2026-08-24Jusuf Nurkić (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Jusuf Nurkić: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($11,423,077) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-20· last seen 2026-08-24Jaxson Hayes (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Jaxson Hayes: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($6,000,000) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-20· last seen 2026-08-24Josh Okogie (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Josh Okogie: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($6,000,000) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-20· last seen 2026-08-24Mo Bamba (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Mo Bamba: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($3,681,991) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Ja Morant (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Ja Morant: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($44,886,930) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Jrue Holiday (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Jrue Holiday: our verified 2026-27 figure $34,800,000 vs BBR's current $37,200,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Shaedon Sharpe (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Shaedon Sharpe: our verified 2026-27 figure $20,089,287 vs BBR's current $21,696,429 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Toumani Camara (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Toumani Camara: our verified 2026-27 figure $18,080,358 vs BBR's current $19,526,786 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Robert Williams (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Robert Williams: our verified 2026-27 figure $13,968,254 vs BBR's current $14,666,667 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Damian Lillard (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Damian Lillard: our verified 2026-27 figure $13,398,800 vs BBR's current $14,104,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Deni Avdija (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Deni Avdija: our verified 2026-27 figure $13,125,000 vs BBR's current $11,875,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Donovan Clingan (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Donovan Clingan: our verified 2026-27 figure $7,519,920 vs BBR's current $9,550,298 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Vít Krejčí (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/POR

    Vít Krejčí: our verified 2026-27 figure $2,667,944 vs BBR's current $3,005,085 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Domantas Sabonis (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Domantas Sabonis: our verified 2026-27 figure $45,472,000 vs BBR's current $48,608,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Keegan Murray (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Keegan Murray: our verified 2026-27 figure $24,137,936 vs BBR's current $26,068,965 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Malik Monk (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Malik Monk: our verified 2026-27 figure $20,190,035 vs BBR's current $21,582,451 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Darius Acuff Jr. (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Darius Acuff Jr.: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($8,422,920) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Precious Achiuwa (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Precious Achiuwa: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($5,750,850) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Alex Karaban (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Alex Karaban: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($3,095,640) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Daeqwon Plowden (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Daeqwon Plowden: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($2,664,401) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Maxime Raynaud (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Maxime Raynaud: our verified 2026-27 figure $2,150,917 vs BBR's current $2,525,901 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Emanuel Sharp (SAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAC

    Emanuel Sharp: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($2,294,370) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24De'Aaron Fox (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    De'Aaron Fox: our verified 2026-27 figure $49,800,000 vs BBR's current $53,784,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Devin Vassell (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Devin Vassell: our verified 2026-27 figure $27,000,000 vs BBR's current $24,652,174 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Tobias Harris (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Tobias Harris: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($15,796,200) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Julian Champagnie (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Julian Champagnie: our verified 2026-27 figure $13,888,889 vs BBR's current $15,000,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Dylan Harper (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Dylan Harper: our verified 2026-27 figure $12,989,040 vs BBR's current $13,607,760 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Luke Kornet (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Luke Kornet: our verified 2026-27 figure $10,450,000 vs BBR's current $9,900,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Stephon Castle (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Stephon Castle: our verified 2026-27 figure $10,015,920 vs BBR's current $12,670,139 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Jayden Quaintance (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Jayden Quaintance: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($4,097,880) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Tarris Reed Jr. (SAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/SAS

    Tarris Reed Jr.: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($3,230,520) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Scottie Barnes (TOR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/TOR

    Scottie Barnes: our verified 2026-27 figure $41,754,690 vs BBR's current $44,847,630 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Brandon Ingram (TOR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/TOR

    Brandon Ingram: our verified 2026-27 figure $40,000,000 vs BBR's current $41,904,762 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Jakob Poeltl (TOR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/TOR

    Jakob Poeltl: our verified 2026-27 figure $19,500,000 vs BBR's current $27,300,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Collin Murray-Boyles (TOR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/TOR

    Collin Murray-Boyles: our verified 2026-27 figure $6,649,560 vs BBR's current $6,966,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Allen Graves (TOR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/TOR

    Allen Graves: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($4,268,880) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Ja'Kobe Walter (TOR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/TOR

    Ja'Kobe Walter: our verified 2026-27 figure $3,811,800 vs BBR's current $5,870,172 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Alijah Martin (TOR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/TOR

    Alijah Martin: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($2,571,895) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Jaren Jackson Jr. (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Jaren Jackson Jr.: our verified 2026-27 figure $49,000,000 vs BBR's current $50,500,000 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Lauri Markkanen (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Lauri Markkanen: our verified 2026-27 figure $46,113,154 vs BBR's current $49,824,681 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Darryn Peterson (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Darryn Peterson: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($13,855,320) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Ace Bailey (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Ace Bailey: our verified 2026-27 figure $9,523,080 vs BBR's current $9,976,560 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Cody Williams (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Cody Williams: our verified 2026-27 figure $6,015,600 vs BBR's current $7,669,890 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Isaiah Collier (UTA)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/UTA

    Isaiah Collier: our verified 2026-27 figure $2,763,960 vs BBR's current $4,988,948 — review + regenerate the map.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Anthony Davis (WAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/WAS

    Anthony Davis: our verified 2026-27 figure $58,456,566 vs BBR's current $62,786,682 — review + regenerate the map.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Trae Young (WAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/WAS

    Trae Young: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($50,478,066) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • STALE MAP2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24AJ Dybantsa (WAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/WAS

    AJ Dybantsa: BBR lists a 2026-27 cap hit ($15,485,760) our verified map lacks — regenerate data/salaries.ts.

  • DISCREPANCY2026-07-10· last seen 2026-08-24Alex Sarr (WAS)· Basketball-Reference /contracts/WAS

    Alex Sarr: our verified 2026-27 figure $12,370,680 vs BBR's current $15,611,798 — review + regenerate the map.

Corrections log (8)

Timestamped record of every figure we've had wrong and fixed, plus methodology changes. Nobody's data is perfect mid-offseason — the difference is whether the errors are hunted, fixed and disclosed.

  • CORRECTED2026-07-06Austin Reaves (LAL)· ESPN (Shams Charania) / CBS Sports — reported 4 yr / $185M max

    Had Austin Reaves at $14,898,786 — the player-option year of his prior contract, which ESPN reports he DECLINED to sign a new 4 yr / $185M max with the Lakers (year-1 $41.3M per CBS). The stale BBR figure is superseded; the cited reported-tier estimate shows (amber, est.) until the signed figure is official on BBR.

  • NOTE2026-07-06· Basketball-Reference /contracts (full 30-team refresh)

    Post-moratorium salary-map refresh (the 2026 FA moratorium ended Jul 6): all 30 BBR contract pages re-fetched and the 2026-27 verified map rebuilt — 338 entries, ZERO figure changes. BBR has not yet posted the new free-agency deals (Reaves' declined-option $14,898,786 still listed on the LAL page; Kessler still filed under Utah), so no reported-tier entries could be promoted to verified yet. The cited reported tier keeps serving those players; the daily cron's promote flags will fire as BBR publishes each deal.

  • CORRECTED2026-07-05Sandro Mamukelashvili (LAL)· ESPN (Shams Charania) via Silver Screen and Roll / Yahoo

    Showed a "verified" $2,801,346 from BBR — his PRIOR contract's option-year cell, provably stale once he signed a new reported 4 yr / $52M deal with the Lakers (2026-07-01). The stale figure is dropped; the sheet now shows the reported estimate (~$13.0M/yr), tagged "rep. est." — caught while building the reported tier, 2026-07-05.

  • CORRECTED2026-07-05Jimmy Butler III (GSW)· accuracy cron run #1 (ESPN roster/contract vs our map)

    The accuracy cron's FIRST run caught a name-matching bug: ESPN carries generational suffixes BBR omits, so "Jimmy Butler III" never matched our "Jimmy Butler" entry — silently dropping his verified $56,832,773 from the Warriors' floor (same class: Walter Clayton Jr. $4.19M MEM, DaRon Holmes II $3.37M DEN, Ron/Ronald Holland II $9.07M DET). Fixed same day with suffix-tolerant, uniqueness-guarded key resolution + an explicit alias for the first-name variant.

  • CORRECTED2026-07-04Bradley Beal (LAC)· Basketball-Reference /contracts (refresh)

    Had Bradley Beal at $19,383,010 — a stale pre-waive Phoenix figure. BBR confirms $5,621,700 on the Clippers. Corrected in the 2026-07-04 salary refresh (commit a7e658b).

  • CORRECTED2026-07-04Damian Lillard (POR)· Basketball-Reference /contracts (refresh)

    Had Damian Lillard at $22,516,603 — a stale Milwaukee figure. BBR confirms $13,398,800 back on Portland; the POR hub floor corrected $139.5M → $130.4M (commit a7e658b).

  • CORRECTED2026-07-04· Basketball-Reference /contracts (refresh)

    Removed 8 players (Cole Anthony, JaVale McGee, Nassir Little, Ricky Rubio and 4 other fringe/waived minimums) whose 2026-27 figure BBR no longer lists — they now correctly render "—" instead of a stale number (commit a7e658b).

  • NOTE2026-07-04

    Methodology change: rosters switched from a static snapshot to LIVE ESPN at view time (commit c63b164) after auditing for roster drift — the app can no longer show a player on a team he left.

Reported-tier register (9)

Every reported (not-yet-verified) figure currently in use, with its citation. Each is re-checked daily and promoted to verified once Basketball-Reference publishes the official cap hit.

PlayerReported dealReported bySource
Austin Reaves LAL4 yr / $185M maxYear-1 figure per the reporting itself (CBS: "$41.3 million in the first year") — used instead of the flat AAV split ($46.25M) because a max deal starts at 25% of the cap and raises 8%/yr. Player option on the final (2029-30) season per ESPN. Est. until the signed figure is official.Shams Charania, ESPN; CBS SportsESPN / CBS Sports2026-07-06
Walker Kessler LAL4 yr / $130M (sign-and-trade from UTA)Player option in year 4 + full trade kicker per ESPN; est. flat AAV — real year-1 hit unknown until official.Shams Charania & Dave McMenamin, ESPNESPN2026-07-05
Quentin Grimes LAL4 yr / $60MShams Charania, ESPNYahoo Sports2026-07-05
Collin Sexton LAL2 yr / $19MShams Charania, ESPNYahoo Sports2026-07-05
Sandro Mamukelashvili LAL4 yr / $52M (fully guaranteed)Player option on year 4 per reporting.Shams Charania, ESPNSilver Screen and Roll2026-07-05
Nick Smith Jr. LAL2 yr / $2,511,009 (Apr 2026)2026-27 season is a NON-GUARANTEED team option per Spotrac — that's why BBR's guaranteed-money column is blank. Est. flat split of the reported total.agent Lucas Newton (Klutch) to ESPNESPN / Spotrac2026-07-05
AK Okereke LALtwo-way contract (post-2026-draft)Two-way deals don't count against the team salary cap.—Silver Screen and Roll2026-07-05
Peter Suder LALtwo-way contract (post-2026-draft)Two-way deals don't count against the team salary cap.—Silver Screen and Roll2026-07-05
Chris Manon LALtwo-way qualifying offer (RFA)Two-way QO extended — restricted free agent; not a signed deal yet, shown as the two-way status it renews.Keith Smith, SpotracLakers Nation / SI2026-07-05
The zero-fabrication rule: a number we can't trace to a real public source does not appear — it renders as “—”. Verified contracts from Basketball-Reference (all 30 teams) (as of 2026-07-06); reported tier curated July 6, 2026; daily cross-check vs ESPN + Basketball-Reference. Full source table on the Data & Methodology tab.