The New Orleans Pelicans 2017-18 salary cap sheet has recently been a hot topic of discussion, nearly as much as the team’s offseason signings or lack thereof.
With Rajon Rondo reportedly signing a $3.29 million contract for next season — incidentally, the same amount as the full bi-annual exception (BAE), it ensured the Pelicans would operate with a hard cap above their heads for the rest of the season. Think of the hard cap as a salary line drawn in the sand that a team may not exceed under any circumstances.
For over-the-cap teams, there exist several triggers (the BAE is one of them) which can invoke a hard cap at the apron, and for next season, it sits at $6 million dollars above the luxury/tax line ($125,266,000).