Which Teams Do/Don't Spend $?

Or which teams are cheap, by the actual numbers

The NBA’s system (more so than ever with the 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement) pushes teams to spend within a specific range. The bottom/floor (minimum team salary) is 90 percent of the salary cap.

The upper bound ranges from the luxury tax threshold (121.5 percent of the cap) and the aprons (first at 126.7 and second at ~134.4 percent of the cap). Those willing to spend above those levels are severely limited in tools (exceptions), trade malleability and draft picks flexibility (future selections frozen).

But how severe are the aprons to teams that historically avoid the luxury tax, and what impact does a spendthrift organization have relative to those that invest lavishly?