Payroll sits at $164.3M, barely under the $165.0M salary cap, with the luxury tax line at $200.4M and the aprons at $209.0M and $221.7M. The real fork in the road is next summer, when Norman Powell, Buddy Hield and Tre Jones all have option decisions and Isaac Okoro's deal comes off the books.
The margin now. Payroll sits at $164.3M against a $165.0M salary cap. That is under the cap, but barely, with almost no cushion built in before Chicago would have to start making moves just to stay below the line. This is as tight as it gets while still calling yourself a cap-space team.
Tax and the aprons. The luxury tax sits at $200.4M, the first apron at $209.0M, the second at $221.7M. Chicago is nowhere near any of those lines right now, which is the only real spending cushion this front office has heading into the year.
The five biggest deals. Josh Giddey ($25.0M), Nic Claxton ($23.1M), Norman Powell ($21.5M), Patrick Williams ($18.0M) and Isaac Okoro ($11.8M) are the five biggest deals on the books, and four of the five are signed well beyond this season.
Okoro's deal expires. Okoro's $11.8M, Jalen Smith's $9.4M and Leonard Miller's $2.4M salaries do not appear on the 2027-28 cap sheet. All three come off the books after this season, which is where a meaningful chunk of next summer's flexibility actually comes from.
Three option years. Powell has a $22.6M team option for 2027-28, Hield a $10.1M player option, and Tre Jones an $8.0M team option. How Chicago and those three players handle those calls will move the number more than anything else on this roster. Decline all three and the Bulls clear real space; pick them all up and the margin stays this thin.
The picks on hand. Chicago owns its own first-round picks in 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030, with a second-round swap in 2028 and again in 2030. The only pick owed out is the 2027 second-rounder, which goes to Oklahoma City.
Are the Bulls over the salary cap?
No. Payroll sits at $164.3M, just under the $165.0M cap, and well below the $200.4M luxury tax line.
What happens to the Bulls' cap space next summer?
Isaac Okoro's $11.8M comes off the books after this season, and option decisions on Norman Powell, Buddy Hield and Tre Jones for 2027-28 will determine how much room actually opens.
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