How much do NBA 10 day contracts pay?
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Birdman: the GOAT 10 day contract
10 day contracts are frequently mentioned towards the end of seasons as teams look for diamonds in the rough or just add depth for upcoming playoff runs. For veteran players, they represent a means to try to stick around the league for another season or two, while for young bucks they're another sliver of opportunity to break into the league. They were used a ton in the 2021-2022 season, when a high rate of positive COVID tests forced teams to cycle through 10 day contracts just to have enough players to put on the court (source). Post-COVID, they've settled into a more typical pattern. But how do these contracts work? And more importantly, how much do they pay?
10 Day Contract Terms
Ten day contracts are laid out in Section 9 of Article II in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (for the next time you're bored waiting for a flight and have your pocket 670 page CBA with you). First off, the contracts themselves can actually be 10 days or 3 games with the team, whichever is longer. These can only be signed starting after January 5th each season.
Something I never knew before researching 10 day contracts is that there is a limit of 10 day contracts a team can have, and it goes up with the more players you have on your roster.
| Total Players on Roster (Excluding Two-Ways) | Max 10-Day Contracts Allowed |
|---|---|
| 12 | 0 |
| 13 | 1 |
| 14 | 2 |
| 15 | 3 |
Once a team and a player agree to a ten day contract, they can agree to one more before needing to either part ways or agree to a deal for the rest of the season. The pay for a 10 day contract is the minimum salary, which varies based on the player's years of service. The total contract pays the proportional amount of the minimum salary for the player, usually 10/174 or ~5%. Here's a breakdown by years of service:
| Season | Days | 0 YOS | 1 YOS | 2 YOS | 3 YOS | 4 YOS | 5 YOS | 6 YOS | 7 YOS | 8 YOS | 9 YOS | 10+ YOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 174 | $66,503 | $107,027 | $119,972 | $124,288 | $128,603 | $139,391 | $150,179 | $160,967 | $171,756 | $172,611 | $189,872 |
For example, P.J. Tucker signed two ten day deals worth $189,872, or 0.1% of the salary cap, each in 2024-2025 with the New York Knicks since he had 10+ years in the league, whereas Killian Hayes signed for $124,288 with the Brooklyn Nets the same season. Either way, not bad for 10 days or 3 games of work! You can play around with our tool to see what each deal is worth as a percentage of the cap and what it would look like in different years. Check it out on our home page here!
Top 3 Ten Day Contracts of All Time
Chris "Birdman" Andersen
Andersen was an amazing addition to the 2012-2013 Miami Heat. The Heat were coming off a championship season and had a record of 26-12 in late January, about a 56 win pace. Although LeBron James was having another amazing season and D-Wade was just starting to decline from a top 10 player, they were struggling rebounding with Chris Bosh as their only quality big man (sorry Joel Anthony). After signing Andersen, they went 37-3 the rest of the regular season in games he played, including a 27 win streak! Birdman provided energy and shot blocking that the Heat were missing off the bench, as well as another lob threat on the pick and roll. He helped the Heat repeat as champions over the San Antonio Spurs as he set a record for playoff field goal percentage at 80%.
Jeremy Lin
Linsanity rocked NYC in 2011-2012
Jeremy Lin is definitely the most famous beneficiary of a 10 day contract. In the 2011-2012 season, he had been waived by the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets before landing with the Knicks on 10 day deals. He managed to stick around just long enough through injuries to players above him on the depth chart to explode against the New Jersey Nets for 25 points and 7 assists. That began a 7 game winning streak to bring the Knicks back to .500 for the season. While a nice story, Linsanity came to an end in late March that year when a knee injury kept him out for the rest of the season. Still, as a regular rotation player Lin averaged 18 points and 7 assists for a team starved for quality point guard play and had a 16-10 record. It was also a spring board for Lin to have a nice additional 7 years, including a championship as an end of bench player for the Toronto Raptors in 2018-2019.
Drew Gooden
I tried finding a fun fact about Drew Gooden. Really not much material there.
In 2013-2014, the Washington Wizards were lacking depth behind Marcin Gortat and Nene Hilario (did you know Nene means "baby" in Portuguese? And that's the nickname he chose for himself?). In February, they signed Drew Gooden to a 10 day contract. At that point, Gooden hadn't played since being waived by the Milwaukee Bucks the previous summer. Getting anything out of him would have been a steal. Indeed, when he averaged 8.3 points and 5.2 rebounds in just 15 minutes and gave the Wizards a stretch-4, his 10 day was a massive win for the team. He was signed for the rest of the season and continued to be a rotation player as the Wizards made the second round and pushed the number 1 seeded Indiana Pacers to 6 games.
Let's keep exploring the fascinating world of NBA contracts together!