Coming up with a team's salary cap number is much more complicated than simply adding up all the player salaries. The following rules apply when calculating a team's salary:

$ The salary payable to each player to all active, retired, or terminated players.

$ For any free agents, the following "Free Agent Amounts":

For a Bird free agent, other than a first round draft pick finishing his rookie scale contract, 150% of his most recent salary if it was equal to or greater than the average player salary, or 200% of his most recent salary if it was less than the average player salary. Stoudamire and Abdur-Rahim.

For a Bird free agent finishing his rookie scale contract, 250% of his most recent salary if it was equal to or greater than the average player salary, or 300% of his most recent salary if it was less than the average player salary.

For an Early-Bird free agent, 130% of his most recent salary;

For a Non-Bird free agent, 120% of his most recent salary;

For a free agent whose salary was equal to the minimum player salary, the portion of the minimum salary applicable to the player for the current season that would not be reimbursed out of the League-wide benefits fund;

Note that if a player is a restricted free agent and has been given a Qualifying Offer, the greater of the salary called for in the Qualifying Offer or the player's free agent amount will be included in team salary.

$ The first year salary called for in any outstanding offer sheets.

$For a first round draft pick, 100% of his applicable rookie scale amount.

$ An amount equal to the rookie minimum salary for each player fewer than 11 included in team salary. Note that the number of players included in team salary includes free agents and first round "cap holds" as described above. In other words, they count as one of the 11 even though they are not under contract to the team.

$ The amount of any disabled player exception, $1 million exception, mid-level exception, or assigned player exception. This rule simply states that a team can either have it exceptions to the salary cap or it can have real room under the salary cap, but it cannot have the benefit of both. Therefore, if a team elects to have real room to go after free agents, it gives up it existing exceptions for that salary cap year, other than a team can always sign a player to a minimum contract. Note: If a team goes under the salary cap by an amount less than the exception and does not use the "real room," the team gets to keep the exception.

Salary Cap 101