The league operated under a $1.43 million 'soft' cap last season, with all clubs required to meet a minimum spend of $1.28 million, or 90 per cent of the cap.

Clubs are free to spend beyond that figure unfettered but accrue an exponential luxury tax for amounts exceeding the soft cap, with those surplus funds paid into NBL 'equalisation fund'.

Among various applications, the equalisation fund can be dipped into to help lower budget clubs like Illawarra meet the minimum spend to comply with cap rules.

Richer clubs freedom to spend above the soft cap figure has seen an unprecedented level of marquee talent brought to the league, but there have been calls for the total spend of each club to be made public in the interests of transparency.

Aussie basketball great Shane Heal has repeatedly called for the NBL release the overall spend figures while King star, and NBA championship-winner, Andrew Bogut has also stated he'd be open to such a move.

It would follow the lead of the NRL and AFL, which both operate under a hard cap but allow for third-party sponsorship, the amount of which made public. Loeliger understands the interest in the overall numbers but said there are no immediate plans to open the books publicly.

"We're not looking at making any changes in that regard," Loeliger said.

"The numbers are made available to the Players Association and to the Salary Review Committee. The principal reason for not wanting to disclose those numbers is the privacy of the players concerned.

"That's the position of the Players Association and one we will support for as long as there is no real compelling need to publish those numbers.

"I know it would be interesting for the public to know the relative spend of different clubs but it's not something that's been tabled for review in the immediate future."

That position remains firm but Loeliger said the cap is always subject to review and input from clubs, something that will no doubt continue amid the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"In terms of salary cap, salary floor, those are all robustly tested by our GM's, owners and Players Association before and after, and sometimes during, each season," Loeliger said.

"Certainly it's being scrutinised very closely at present in light of conversations around what next season will look like. There may be some reform that comes out of it, but the publication of [total spend] numbers is not something very high on the agenda at the moment."

The Hawks faithful have been particularly critical of the salary cap system having watched the likes of Kevin Lisch, Nick Kay and Mitch Norton lured away in recent seasons.

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The criticism went up a notch last season when Illawarra product Xavier Cooks, then without a contract, was plucked straight out of the Snakepit by the Kings on a multi-year deal.

Loeliger accepts it was tough to swallow for fans, but pointed to Cairns run from wooden-spooners to title contenders in the space of a season as evidence the system is working.

"If you look at any sporting leagues around the world there are wealthier clubs and less wealthy clubs," Loeliger said.

"What we've done through the salary equalisation subsidy account is make sure teams, irrespective of their relative wealth, are competitive with one another.

"There are swings and roundabouts but if you look at the ladder over the past four seasons, we've had three of the four most competitive seasons in the league's 41 years. It is working.

"The fact you had Cairns finish bottom of the ladder two seasons ago and finish in the playoffs this season on a very modest budget is demonstrative of the fact that it is working."