Denver Nuggets 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 Denver Nuggets afford?
What can DEN afford?
2nd aproncomputed live · verified floorEvery number below is a CBA-engine computation on DEN's verified 2026-27 contracts ($236.4M floor) — what this front office can actually do in the market, not a projection.
DEN can take back at most $59.0M in any single trade on the verified floor. Over the second apron → take-back capped at 100% of outgoing ($59.0M); no salary aggregation allowed.
- Cannot aggregate two or more outgoing salaries in a trade.
- Cannot take back more than 100% of outgoing salary.
- Cannot absorb salary into cap room (over the cap by definition).
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.
Denver Nuggets 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Nikola Jokic | C | $59.0M |
| Jamal Murray | G | $50.1M |
| Aaron Gordon | F | $33.7M |
| DeMar DeRozan | G | $25.7M |
| Cameron Johnson | F | $23.1M |
| Christian Braun | G | $21.6M |
| Zeke Nnaji | F | $7.5M |
| Cam Whitmore | F | $5.5M |
| Julian Strawther | G | $4.8M |
| DaRon Holmes II | F | $3.4M |
| Ryan Nembhard | G | $2.2M |
| Marvin Bagley III | F | — |
| Trevon Brazile | F | — |
| Alpha Diallo | F | — |
| Bryce Hopkins | F | — |
| Spencer Jones | F | — |
| Tyus Jones | G | — |
| Team total (verified floor) | $236.4M |
“—” = 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 Denver Nuggets have?
As of October 24, 2026, the Denver Nuggets are over the $165.0M salary cap by roughly $71.5M on verified contracts, so they have no cap space and must build via exceptions (MLE/BAE), minimums and trades.
What is the Denver Nuggets' total payroll for 2026-27?
Their verified 2026-27 payroll is $236.4M ($236,425,950), summed from 11 verified contracts across a 17-man roster. This is a floor — it counts only guaranteed cap hits CapDesk can source, so unpriced players read as "—".
Are the Denver Nuggets over the luxury tax or an apron?
As of October 24, 2026 the Denver Nuggets are over the second apron ($236.4M). The 2026-27 luxury tax is $200.4M, the first apron $209.0M, and the second apron $221.7M.
How far are the Denver Nuggets from the first and second apron?
On verified contracts they are $27.4M over the first apron ($209.0M) and $14.7M over the second apron ($221.7M).
Who is the highest-paid Denver Nuggets player in 2026-27?
Nikola Jokic carries the largest verified 2026-27 cap hit on the roster at $59.0M ($59,033,114).
What is the biggest salary the Denver Nuggets can take back in a trade?
On their verified 2026-27 floor, the CBA engine puts the Denver Nuggets' largest legal single-trade take-back at $59.0M — sending Nikola Jokic ($59.0M). Exception tools (MLE/BAE/minimums) are outside the engine's model and are not estimated.