The Associated Press reports that the NBA has announced their salary cap figures for the upcoming season. For the first time since the salary cap has been introduced, it will actually decrease in 2002-03. Last season?s cap was set at $42.5 million. This season?s cap will dip to $40.271 million.

The NBA also announced on Tuesday that the mid-level exception that teams can offer free agents is only going up from $4.538 million to $4.545 million. Media speculation originally placed the value in the $4.6 to $4.8 million range. This will mean less money for free agents like Chauncey Billups as this exception is the main means of adding players to a capped-out team.

The Luxury tax, which kept several teams from signing players last summer, will not be levied in part, due to the reduced spending of the owners. As a result, a small amount of the Escrow money taken from the player?s paychecks during the season will be returned to the players. The tax is expected to become reality next summer because of the increasing salaries of older, long-term contracts.

The minimum cap has been set at $30.2 million.