Skip to main content
All 76ers

The Sixers' Payroll and Salary-Cap Tools Heading Into NBA Free Agency

Philadelphia has maximized its flexibility to upgrade the roster in the way Mike Gansey sees fit.
Jacob Moreno|
Mike Gansey at his introductory press conference with the Sixers
Mike Gansey at his introductory press conference with the Sixers | Austin Krell/On SI

In this story:

Philadelphia 76ers

It’s finally here. Teams can begin negotiations with league-wide free agents at 6 p.m., Eastern Time—the start of the one-week moratorium period.

But it’s different for the Sixers this time around.

Mike Gansey is one month into the job as the Sixers' new president of basketball operations. Philadelphia has maximized its salary-cap wiggle room within the confines of Joel Embiid and Paul George’s maximum contracts.

Now, the Sixers have multiple tools at their disposal to retool their roster. Here's a look at what they're working with heading into free agency.

The non-taxpayer mid-level exception

The Sixers currently can use the $15 million full non-taxpayer mid-level exception because they are $24.1 million below the $209 million first apron. However, using it would hard-cap them at the first apron, so their payroll could not exceed $209 million all season.

Aside from raw cap space, the NTP-MLE is the best tool to get premium role players. Philadelphia has been linked to unrestricted free agents Dean Wade and John Collins, whose price points are likely to fall in that range.

A team doesn’t have to use the entire exception on one player. For example, say the Sixers signed Collins with $12 million of the NTP-MLE. They could use the remaining $3 million on another player or hold onto it into the regular season. The Sixers were able to sign Dominick Barlow to an above-minimum rest-of-season deal in February because they didn't spend their MLE last summer.

If the Sixers’ first signing makes use of the non-tax MLE, they will have to fill the rest of their roster without crossing the first apron.

The bi-annual exception

Philadelphia also has access to the $5.5 million bi-annual exception as of now.

This exception is less complicated than the NTP-MLE—it’s an exception a team has every other year. Since the Sixers didn’t use the BAE last year, they could have spend it this season.

Using the BAE also results in a first-apron hard caps. You’re likely looking at Marvin Bagley III, Zach Collins, and Gary Trent Jr. as the caliber of players available at this range.

Trade exceptions

The Jared McCain trade stings, but for better or worse, it’s a gift that keeps giving.

Philadelphia obtained a $4.2 million trade exception from the Oklahoma City Thunder because it did not acquire a player in return for McCain. The Sixers can use this exception to acquire any player who's earning $4.2 million or less without sending out any salary.

However, Philadelphia would have to be wary of where it stands financially. Using a trade exception from a previous season also hard-caps a team at the first apron. If the Sixers are only $1 million below the first apron, they'd be functionally prohibited from using the McCain TPE. The same holds for the $2.3 million trade exception Philadelphia got from the Memphis Grizzlies for salary-dumping Eric Gordon in February.

The Sixers also cannot use both exceptions to acquire one player. In other words, if the Sixers want to trade for a player earning around $6.5 million, they can’t combine both exceptions to nab him.

Bird Rights

The Sixers have some version of Bird rights on all four of their pending unrestricted free agents.

They have full Bird rights on Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes, so they could go beyond the salary cap to re-sign either to as much as a maximum contract. But if the Sixers use the NTP-MLE, they'd be hard-capped at the first apron.

If the Sixers use all of the NTP-MLE, they would be $10.4 million below the first apron. That might leave them just enough room to pick between re-signing Oubre or Grimes. 

Philadelphia has three non-guaranteed contracts in Jabari Walker, Dalen Terry, and Adem Bona that it can waive to free an additional $7.5 million in salary-cap wiggle room. Still, the Sixers would probably have to choose between Oubre and Grimes.

The Sixers also have Kyle Lowry’s full Bird rights, but he's more likely to retire than return to the Sixers. Meanwhile, they have Early Bird rights on Andre Drummond because he's spent only the past two years with the team instead of three. That means Philadelphia could offer him as much as 175% of his previous salary as the starting salary of his next contract.

Although Grimes played only one-and-a-half seasons with the Sixers, they received his Bird rights from the Dallas Mavericks when they acquired him in February 2025. Before that, Dallas inherited his Bird rights from the Detroit Pistons in a deal that took place in July 2024. All of that equals three years of service.

Overall

This could change as soon as this article is published, but as it stands, the Sixers have a $184.9 million payroll. This leaves them $16.1 million below the $201 million luxury-tax threshold and $24.1 million below the first tax apron.

If the Sixers use the full NTP-MLE and BAE, that would leave them $4.9 million beneath the first apron.

Sign up for our free newsletter and follow us on X and Bluesky for the latest news.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Jacob Moreno
JACOB MORENO

Jacob Moreno is a Sports Media major at Temple University who aspires to become a 76ers beat writer. He previously contributed to The Sixer Sense and also covers Temple Athletics for The Temple News. He is a huge Marvel nerd and falls victim to expensive Lego sets.

Share on XFollow jacob_moreno_
Home/News