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Game state source: whynba · Retrieved Oct 9, 6:06 pm EDTNBA 10-day contracts: salary, length and signing rules
An NBA 10-day contract is a short-term standard player contract lasting the longer of 10 days or three games played by the team. Ordinary signings can begin January 5. The player earns the applicable minimum salary, prorated for the contract’s actual length.
Does a 10-day contract always end after 10 days?
No. The agreement uses whichever is longer: 10 days or a period encompassing three games played by that team. It does not require the player to appear in three games. A gap in the team’s schedule can extend the term. Article II §9(a), printed page 48.
For a simple illustration, if the team plays its third game on the eighth day, the ordinary term still lasts 10 days. If that third game is on the twelfth day, the ordinary term lasts 12 days. These are hypothetical schedules, not reported player contracts. The season-end restriction below also applies.
How much does an NBA 10-day contract pay?
There is no single dollar amount for every player. The annual minimum depends on the season and the player’s Years of Service. The CBA then prorates that minimum using calendar days:
Contract salary = applicable minimum annual salary × days covered by the contract ÷ total days in that NBA regular season.
The numerator is not automatically 10: a contract extended by the three-team-game rule covers more days. The denominator is the length of the regular season, not 82 games or 365 days. This is the salary formula in Article I §1(kk)(iii), printed page 5; Article II §9(b) requires the Minimum Player Salary.
Illustration only: with an assumed $1,800,000 annual minimum and a 180-day regular season, a 10-day term produces $100,000; a 12-day term produces $120,000. Those deliberately round inputs are not an official salary quote for this or any other season.
To calculate an actual offer, use that season’s minimum for the player’s Years of Service, the actual season length and the signed term. An old season’s salary table or a veteran’s published amount cannot be applied to everyone. The minimum-scale definitions and player-salary rules are in Article I §1(ii)–(kk) and Article II §6(a), printed page 33.
Calculate salary for a stated contract term
Enter the applicable annual minimum and calendar-day counts. This applies the formula above; it does not select a salary scale, determine signing eligibility or calculate taxes. Results are rounded to cents for illustration, not an official payroll quote.
When can teams sign them, and how many are allowed?
- Start date: ordinary 10-day contracts are available beginning January 5.
- Same team and player: no more than two in one season under the ordinary rule. A second deal is an option for the parties, not an entitlement.
- Season-end limit: an ordinary term cannot extend to or past the date of that team’s last regular-season game.
The CBA also limits simultaneous 10-day contracts according to the number of players on the team’s Active and Inactive Lists, counting existing 10-day players but excluding two-way players:
- 12 counted players
- No 10-day contracts.
- 13 counted players
- Up to one 10-day contract.
- 14 counted players
- Up to two 10-day contracts.
- 15 counted players
- Up to three 10-day contracts.
This is the ordinary contract-count table, not a determination that a particular team has an available roster spot. Article II §9(a)–(c), printed page 48; §9(c)–(d), printed page 49.
What changes when the NBA authorizes a hardship signing?
Article II §9(e) provides a specific timing exception: an NBA-authorized signing under its hardship rules is a 10-day contract regardless of when during the season it is signed. If the ordinary term would reach or pass the team’s last regular-season game, the term instead becomes the days remaining in that regular season, including the signing day.
A team having injured players does not, by itself, establish that the NBA has granted this authorization. The cited provision addresses contract timing; it is not a blanket statement that every other signing restriction disappears. Article II §9(e), printed page 49.
Hardship authorization vs. the Disabled Player Exception
For the full salary comparison, medical approval process and return rules, read our Disabled Player Exception guide and hypothetical calculator.
These address different problems. The CBA recognizes NBA hardship authorization as a way for a team to exceed its ordinary roster limit. It refers to the NBA’s hardship rules rather than setting out their full approval criteria in this provision. Article XXIX §2(b)(ii)(A), printed page 429. This guide does not turn a count of injured players into a finding that a team qualifies.
The Disabled Player Exception is a separate salary-cap mechanism for an eligible team to sign or acquire one replacement player. The designated physician must find it substantially more likely than not that the injury or illness will prevent the player from playing through the following June 15. It is not an automatic result of being listed Out. Article VII §6(c), printed pages 232–235.
- Applying and using it: the application window runs July 1 through January 15. An awarded exception generally expires the following March 10, and can end earlier under the CBA’s conditions.
- Signing a replacement: Salary plus Unlikely Bonuses cannot exceed the lesser of 50% of the disabled player’s Salary for the current salary-cap year or the Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Salary Exception. The replacement contract can cover only that season.
- Acquiring a replacement: a qualifying trade or waiver claim has a separate salary limit equal to that same lesser amount plus $100,000, and requires a contract with only one season remaining. Do not apply the extra $100,000 to a new signing. A future option year counts as another season. Article VII §§8(k), 9(a)(1)–(2), printed page 266.
If the injured player returns before the team uses the exception, the unused exception is extinguished; a trade of that player also ends the unused exception. If the exception has already been used, the injured player may return without undoing the replacement acquisition. This is a rule explanation, not a report that a particular team has an approved exception or an open roster spot. Article VII §6(c), PDF pages 257–259, printed pages 233–235.
A Disabled Player Exception does not itself provide an extra roster place or remove the injured player’s salary from the cap. Other cap and transaction rules still apply; it is not extra spending room that can simply be stacked on ordinary cap space. Career-ending salary exclusion is a separate process. Article VII §6(n), printed pages 247–249; §4(h), printed pages 222–224.
What happens when the contract ends?
The team is not required to sign a second 10-day deal or a rest-of-season contract. While the 10-day contract remains in effect, the CBA permits the parties to negotiate and enter a standard rest-of-season deal, with the new deal taking effect the day after the stated 10-day term expires. Article II §9(h), printed pages 49–50.
Early termination uses written notice
A team can terminate the 10-day contract by written notice and payment of the sums specified in Exhibit 1A. It does not use the usual waiver procedure. If the team ends the deal early, that same team and player cannot enter a new contract before the original stated term expires. Avoid treating early termination as a way to restart the clock immediately. Article II §9(f)–(g), printed page 49.
A 10-day contract is explicitly a contract other than a two-way contract. For the separate development-roster arrangement, see our two-way salary, game-limit and conversion guide.
An Exhibit 10 attachment does not mean a ten-day term. Compare Exhibit 10 salary, affiliate bonuses and conversion rules.
Quick answers
- How long is an NBA 10-day contract?
- The ordinary term is the longer of 10 days or a period covering three games played by the team. It is team games, not three appearances by the player. A slow team schedule can make the contract last longer than 10 days.
- How much does an NBA 10-day contract pay?
- The CBA requires the applicable minimum annual salary multiplied by the number of days covered by the contract, divided by the total number of days in that NBA regular season. The annual minimum depends on the season and the player’s Years of Service, so there is no single salary for every player.
- When can NBA teams sign 10-day contracts?
- Ordinary 10-day contracts can begin on January 5. An ordinary contract cannot extend to or past the date of the team’s last regular-season game. NBA-authorized hardship contracts have separate timing provisions.
- How many 10-day contracts can a player sign with one team?
- The ordinary rule permits no more than two between the same team and player in one season. It does not require the team to offer a second contract or keep the player for the rest of the season.
- Can a team end a 10-day contract early?
- Yes. The team provides written notice and pays the sums specified in Exhibit 1A, rather than using the ordinary waiver procedure. After early termination, the same team and player cannot enter a new contract before the original stated term expires.
- What changes for a hardship 10-day contract?
- If the NBA authorizes a signing under its hardship rules, Article II §9(e) allows the 10-day contract regardless of when during the season it is signed. If its normal term reaches or passes the team’s last regular-season game, its term is the remaining days in the regular season, including the signing day.
- Is a hardship signing the same as a Disabled Player Exception?
- No. NBA hardship authorization can permit a team to exceed the ordinary roster limit and has special 10-day timing rules. The Disabled Player Exception is a separate salary-cap exception for one replacement, subject to medical approval, salary limits and deadlines. Injury reports alone do not establish that a team has received either approval.
For the separate treatment of waived standard contracts, read how the stretch provision affects cap charges and player payments.
Continue with salary-cap and apron rules, qualifying offers and restricted free agency, or reported NBA transactions.
Editorial review: October 1, 2026. Primary authority: the 2023 NBA–NBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement. PDF links include front matter; citations also give printed page numbers. This guide explains the rules and does not infer an individual player’s salary or current contract status.
NBPA agreement link and reviewed document last checked: .