In some very rare occasions, having too much money is actually a problem. The NBA’s salary cap rules are a prime example, with a salary cap floor in place to ensure that teams remain somewhat competitive and don’t simply focus on saving money.
Even after making several offseason acquisitions, the Brooklyn Nets are projected to finish well below the NBA’s salary cap floor of $139.182 million.
According to NetsDaily, the Nets are currently $649K under the cap floor but could end up $7.3 million below it once the roster is finalized after training camp.
So after the Williams signing, Brooklyn Nets are $649K beneath the salary floor BUT they’ll have to waive three players so in reality they’re about $7.3M beneath it. (I think.)
— NetsDaily (@NetsDaily) September 9, 2025
According to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), any team with a salary below the floor at the start of the season won’t receive the end-of-season luxury tax distribution (approximately $11.5M per team last season) and part of that teams cap room will be frozen (the amount between its team salary and the minimum floor) frozen.
Besides that, the team would be required to evenly redistribute the difference between their payroll and the cap floor to the players on the roster.
While being below the salary floor may not bring the same financial or roster consequences as hitting the luxury tax or the first and second aprons, it would still be ideal for Brooklyn to avoid the dilemma.
Luckily for the Nets, the NBA’s opening night is still more than a month away, giving them time to sort it out. Currently, two options stand out as ways that the issue could be quickly handled.
They currently need to release three players to reach the league’s maximum roster limit, but Brooklyn could also explore cutting or trading an additional low-salary player and taking on a salary dump from another team to reach the floor with some extra money on the books. Teams like the Phoenix Suns and Denver Nuggets are facing the opposite issue, sitting less than a million dollars into the luxury tax. For them, an end-of-the-bench salary dump could clear cap space while also pushing the Nets above the floor.
Another option that would likely be well-received by the players would be to either evenly spread out the remaining money or give raises to certain players.
For example, back in June it was reported that the Nets would be signing Day’Ron Sharpe to a two-year, $12 million deal, but once finalized earlier this month, the contract came in at $12.5 million.