In the NBL, there's a correlation between spending money and winning.
That's the main takeaway from an analysis of each NBL team's total spend from the 2025-26 season; the numbers of which were distributed to all teams, obtained by ESPN, and confirmed by multiple sources.
Five of the six highest spenders finished in the top six -- Perth Wildcats, Sydney Kings, Adelaide 36ers, Melbourne United, and Tasmania JackJumpers -- with three of those franchises surpassing the $4 million mark for the first time since we've been tracking these figures. In fact, those three teams -- Perth, Sydney, and Adelaide -- were close to reaching the $5 million mark in overall cash spend; the Kings and 36ers spent up, and were the two teams that advanced to the NBL Championship Series.
The numbers also paint the picture of how highly-paid imports substantially increase a team's total cash expenditure, while other teams have craftily used some of the league's mechanisms -- the marquee rule, in particular -- to lower overall cash spend.
As always, we've split this up into two categories: cash spend and cap spend.
The cash spend of each team is calculated after agent fees and non-cap exempt bonuses are paid. In order to achieve spends that are as close to the actual numbers as possible, the out-of-pocket value of each import was calculated by ESPN, using the real AUD-to-USD exchange rate instead of the league's fixed rate -- which is what the NBL uses to make its calculations -- while also taking into account teams covering Australian taxes and other incentives for those players. The aim was to calculate cash spends as approximate to the real numbers for each team, given the information provided.
The amount each team paid in luxury tax has been added to the cash spend totals.
The cap spends listed below are the exact values distributed across the league. Going into the 2025-26 season, the salary cap was set at $2,025,569.08. That number was exceeded by six teams: The 36ers, Kings, Wildcats, United, and South East Melbourne Phoenix.
The 36ers had the highest luxury tax bill with $322,540.82, followed by the Kings' tax bill of $281,325.23, and the Wildcats' $121,458.20. League wide, a total of $975,909.19 was paid in luxury tax, which is up from $507,280.11 last season. Teams now have the opportunity to apply for additional funds from that subsidy total.
Five teams remained under the cap: the Illawarra Hawks, New Zealand Breakers, JackJumpers, Brisbane Bullets, and Cairns Taipans.
ANALYSIS
Cotton citizenship saves Adelaide 36ers
All eyes were on the 36ers' spend going into this season due to the acquisition of Bryce Cotton, but the franchise was given a lifeline when the now-six-time MVP was granted his Australian citizenship ahead of their first game.
The 36ers still finished atop the league in cap spend, but were able to finish just third in overall cash spend because of the savings earned from Cotton's marquee status. To paint the picture, Cotton's actual deal well exceeded $1 million (AUD), but it only hit the 36ers' cap sheet at $242,478.69. Cotton receiving his citizenship saved the 36ers up to around $800,000 in cash spend (the cap hit, plus the luxury tax it would lead to); if he remained an import, their overall spend would have shot up to close to $5.5 million. Because Cotton's deal was marqueed, we calculated the team's total cash figure at $4,667,973.
The 36ers had the benefit of being one of the healthiest teams in NBL history, but that hurt their cap sheet because the contract of both Isaac Humphries and Dejan Vasiljevic hit the cap every game. The team suited up Cotton plus three imports for the vast majority of their contests, so there was no mechanism to lower the cap hit of Humphries and Vasiljevic's contracts.
Sydney Kings were willing to spend up to win the championship
Once our calculations were complete, the Kings finished second in total cash spend, but only just behind the Wildcats; the figures are functionally the same.
A big part of that is a highly-paid import in Kendric Davis, who ate up around one-fifth of their total cash spend -- and will, deservedly, take up more next season -- and whose bonuses really ate in to the Kings' cap sheet. The Kings paid Davis -- the runner-up for league MVP -- his MVP bonus, sources said, which hits a team's cap sheet. If the Kings chose not to go through with that act of goodwill, they would have saved themselves around $180,000 in total cash spend.
The overall cash spend isn't surprising, considering the Kings had Xavier Cooks' $1 million contract, the second season of a substantial Bul Kuol deal, Matthew Dellavedova's contract -- still costly, though not wildly expensive -- and the mid-season addition of Torrey Craig, which took away the ability to marquee the latter pair.
Ultimately, the Kings won the championship, so there's a good argument that it was money well spent; as my ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst says: winning a title means never having to say you're sorry.
Perth Wildcats import blunder costs them
We had the Wildcats finishing atop the league in overall cash spend, at $4,832,179 -- which is the highest figure we've seen -- and that largely comes down to the team's import recruitment over the course of the season.
Mason Jones was signed to a deal that made him the highest-paid import in the NBL, the numbers say, and the team's decision to cut him early in the season -- and, from what we're told, pay out a large chunk of his contract -- dented both the Wildcats' cash and cap spend. Kristian Doolittle and Dylan Windler were on high-paying contracts, and the team then had to bring in David Duke Jr., who wasn't particularly expensive, but it adds up.
On top of that, Jo Lual-Acuil Jr. was the highest-paid local player in the league -- making just over $1.1 million -- and while the Wildcats were able to marquee the contract, saving them cap spend, it still dents their cash spend in a big way.
The Wildcats did an admirable job keeping their luxury tax bill at a reasonable price, but the misfire on Jones is what sent their cash spend through the roof.
The high achiever: South East Melbourne Phoenix
In the Phoenix, we had a team that got to Game 3 of a semifinals series against the 36ers, while being No. 9 in overall cash spend. Our calculations have the Phoenix spending $2,973,039, joining the Breakers as the only two teams under the $3 million mark in total cash spend.
Josh King's team would finish fifth in cap spend, but paid just $49,200.08 in luxury tax, and didn't have an expensive roster by any means. For context, every other team in the league had a player that was paid more than the biggest contract on the Phoenix's books.
The Cairns Taipans walked the walk
The Taipans have consistently been the lowest in both cash and cap spend since we've been obtaining these figures, but this season proved different.
CEO Mark Beecroft, head coach Adam Forde, and co. talked about spending more than usual, and they did just that; first with Jack McVeigh's deal which exceeded $1 million, but also with the re-signing of Sam Waardenburg, and how much they were willing to spend on imports.
While the team failed to reach the salary floor from a cap perspective -- largely due to injuries sustained -- the final numbers indicate the Taipans finished fifth in total cash spend, which is by far the highest they've been ranked over the past few seasons.