Cleveland Cavaliers Salary Cap 2026-27
Live cap sheet vs the real luxury-tax and apron lines, plus contract table and cap-space FAQ.
Apron ladder
What can the Cleveland Cavaliers afford?
What can CLE afford?
Non-taxpayercomputed live · verified floorEvery number below is a CBA-engine computation on CLE's verified 2026-27 contracts ($187.9M floor) — what this front office can actually do in the market, not a projection.
CLE can take back at most $191.6M in any single trade on the verified floor — bound by the apron hard cap, not the matching bands. Hard cap binds first: taking back more than $191.6M would carry the team past the first apron (engine-verified). The matching band alone would have allowed $213.4M.
- Expanded-band matching applies (up to 200% + $250K on small outgoing salaries).
- Expanded matching cannot be used to cross the first apron ($209.0M).
Exception tools (mid-level, bi-annual, minimums), sign-and-trades and Bird rights are outside this engine's model — CapDesk shows only what it can compute on verified data, never an estimated exception value. Mid-offseason the floor undercounts unpriced players, so cap room reads high — see the Data Ledger for what's verified.
Cleveland Cavaliers on the wire
Reading the league wire…
Display only — wire items never change the contract table above. Roster and salary figures move exclusively through the verified salary pipeline (Basketball-Reference cited; reported deals surface amber with citations). Method + corrections: Data Ledger.
2026-27 contract table
| Player | Pos | 2026-27 cap hit |
|---|---|---|
| Donovan Mitchell | G | $50.1M |
| Evan Mobley | C | $50.1M |
| James Harden | G | $42.3M |
| Jarrett Allen | C | $28.0M |
| Sam Merrill | G | $9.2M |
| Jaylon Tyson | G | $3.7M |
| Craig Porter Jr. | G | $2.4M |
| Tyrese Proctor | G | $2.2M |
| Thomas Bryant | C | — |
| Tristan Enaruna | F | — |
| Mario Hezonja | F | — |
| Riley Minix | F | — |
| Meleek Thomas | G | — |
| Peyton Watson | G | — |
| Team total (verified floor) | $187.9M |
“—” = no verified 2026-27 cap hit on file (never a guessed number). Figures tagged rep. are cited REPORTED deals (estimated flat from the reported total/years) — not yet verified on Basketball-Reference; two-way deals don't count against the cap. Team total counts verified contracts only, so it reads as a floor mid-offseason. Verification method + corrections log: Data Ledger.
Frequently asked
How much cap space do the Cleveland Cavaliers have?
As of October 24, 2026, the Cleveland Cavaliers are over the $165.0M salary cap by roughly $22.9M on verified contracts, so they have no cap space and must build via exceptions (MLE/BAE), minimums and trades.
What is the Cleveland Cavaliers' total payroll for 2026-27?
Their verified 2026-27 payroll is $187.9M ($187,904,960), summed from 8 verified contracts across a 14-man roster. This is a floor — it counts only guaranteed cap hits CapDesk can source, so unpriced players read as "—".
Are the Cleveland Cavaliers over the luxury tax or an apron?
As of October 24, 2026 the Cleveland Cavaliers are over the cap, under the tax ($187.9M). The 2026-27 luxury tax is $200.4M, the first apron $209.0M, and the second apron $221.7M.
How far are the Cleveland Cavaliers from the first and second apron?
On verified contracts they are $21.1M under the first apron ($209.0M) and $33.8M under the second apron ($221.7M).
Who is the highest-paid Cleveland Cavaliers player in 2026-27?
Donovan Mitchell carries the largest verified 2026-27 cap hit on the roster at $50.1M ($50,105,628).
What is the biggest salary the Cleveland Cavaliers can take back in a trade?
On their verified 2026-27 floor, the CBA engine puts the Cleveland Cavaliers' largest legal single-trade take-back at $191.6M — sending Donovan Mitchell + Evan Mobley + James Harden + Jarrett Allen ($170.5M), bound by the apron hard cap rather than the matching bands. Exception tools (MLE/BAE/minimums) are outside the engine's model and are not estimated.