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Having the most NBA cap space 2022 usually means you don’t have a competitive roster. But the NBA is a business and everything can change in just one season with that kind of money, assuming you make the right moves.
Most NBA cap space 2022
We have covered the five teams with the most cap space as of June 28th. These are current cap space figures — more detailed projected NBA cap space numbers can be found at Spotrac. Most of these franchises are able to free up cap space by flipping contracts or turning down options. The Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers all have a projected NBA cap space in 2022 of over $20,000,000.
5. Thunder – $-18,918,718
The Oklahoma City Thunder just landed a potential franchise cornerstone in Chet Holmgren. They can put together one of the slimmest, most unorthodox duos of all time with him and Aleksej Pokusevski in the frontcourt, assuming they also deploy a physically dominant big man to protect the paint.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey are a promising backcourt and they have a plethora of athletes and shooters. They need to add a couple of veteran stoppers and another backup point guard and who knows? Maybe Holmgren will turn out to be the real deal and lead them to the play-in tournament.
4. Rockets – $-13,669,812
The Houston Rockets were the biggest winners of the NBA Draft. Not only did the highest-ranked prospect Jabari Smith fall right into their laps. They also landed two of the best young men in the class in TyTy Washington and Tari Eason. Add Jalen Green, Josh Christopher, Kevin Porter Jr., and Alperen Sengun to that mix and you have an impressive core.
The Rockets also traded away Christian Wood and bought out John Wall to free even more cap space. So, expect them to try and bring a couple of savvy, defensive-minded veterans to round up their promising roster and maybe even make a playoff push.
3. Spurs – $-5,537,585
The San Antonio Spurs enter the offseason with a huge question mark over their heads. Will Gregg Popovich take a step aside? Will they finally trade Dejounte Murray? They have a nice young core but not superstar prospects, and being stuck in the middle is the worst you can do in the NBA.
But then again, they have more than enough cap space to make a run at a couple of stars in the offseason. Both Miles Bridges and Deandre Ayton are reportedly disgruntled with their teams, so they could be in the mix for either or both of them, according to the latest Spurs free agency rumors.
2. Pistons – $-5,284,762
The Detroit Pistons will be one of the most entertaining teams to watch for years to come. They landed Jaden Ivey in the NBA Draft to pair him with Cade Cunningham, one of the most impressive and well-rounded prospects we’ve seen in decades.
To make things even better, it seems like they’re looking forward to adding more firepower via free agency and trade, and they sure can afford that as one of the NBA teams with most cap space, Deandre Ayton has also been linked with a move to the Motor City, so keep an eye on them in the offseason.
1. Knicks – $-3,847,465
The New York Knicks made yet another head-scratching move. They gave up a first-round pick just to ditch Kemba Walker‘s salary and clear cap space to make a move at mid-tier players in free agency. They’re expected to vastly overpay for Jalen Brunson.
Tom Thibodeau will begin the year in the hot seat, and the Knicks aren’t likely to be much better next season or even the year after. They’ll have plenty of draft picks in the next couple of Drafts, and they have the most NBA cap space 2022, so that’s the silver lining for their fans.
