How Much Are 10-Day NBA Contracts Really Worth?

If you‘re an NBA fan, you‘ve probably heard the term "10-day contract" before. But you may still be fuzzy on what exactly they are and how much money these short-term deals pay players. As an NBA salary cap expert, let me give you the full rundown on 10-day contracts, from how salaries are set to why teams use them.

A Quick NBA Contracts Refresher

Before we dig into 10-day deals, let‘s do a quick refresher on normal NBA contracts. The NBA collective bargaining agreement (CBA) establishes a minimum salary scale for players based on their years of experience.

For example, for the 2022-23 season:

• 0-1 years experience: $1,066,741
• 1-2 years experience: $1,138,887
• 2-3 years experience: $1,211,033

And so on, up to $2,558,449 for players with 9+ years of experience.

NBA contracts can run from 1-4 years in length and the player is paid an annual salary during the term. Teams negotiate salaries, but they must be at least the minimum.

Okay, now that you‘ve got that baseline knowledge, let‘s look at 10-day contracts and how they differ.

What Exactly is a 10-Day NBA Contract?

A 10-day contract is a short-term agreement where an NBA team signs a player for only 10 days.

Teams can start signing players to 10-day deals on January 5 each season. A player can sign two 10-day contracts with the same team during a season. After the second one expires, the team must either waive the player or sign them for the remainder of the season.

The 10-day deals operate outside of the normal NBA contract system. Instead of an annual salary, players on 10-day contracts only get paid for the brief period they are with the team.

Calculating a 10-Day NBA Salary

So how much does a 10-day contract pay? To determine the salary, the NBA takes the minimum annual salary for that player based on their years of experience and prorates it.

The formula is:

(Minimum Annual Salary / 170) x 10

170 represents the total days in the NBA regular season. So for a rookie with 0 years of experience, their minimum salary is $1,066,741. Divide that by 170 and multiply by 10, and you get a 10-day salary of $62,805.

For a 10-year veteran, the process would look like:

($2,558,449 / 170) x 10 = $175,042

That means veterans on 10-day deals can earn well over $100,000 for just 10 days of work!

Here‘s a table showing estimated 10-day salaries for each experience level:

As you can see, NBA veterans have a financial advantage when it comes to 10-day deals. While they only make up a small percentage of 10-day contract recipients, some established players have used them as short-term auditions for potential playoff teams.

When and Why Teams Use 10-Day Contracts

NBA teams are limited to 15 roster spots. Once the regular season begins, those spots are filled, leaving no room to test out and sign additional players.

That‘s where 10-day contracts come in. They temporarily allow teams to add a 16th player outside the normal roster without making a season-long commitment.

There are 150-200 ten-day contracts issued each NBA season. They are mainly used for the following purposes:

• Filling short-term needs: If teams suffer injuries or trades, 10-day deals can help plug holes in the lineup.

• Tryouts: Teams use 10-day contracts to assess the talent of players in the G League or overseas. If they like what they see, they can sign them for the season.

• Emergency depth: Contenders will stock up on these short-term deals leading up to the playoffs to provide insurance in case of injury.

The 10-Day Player Experience

"It’s the most stressful 10 days of your basketball career."

That quote from forward Cleanthony Early sums up the pressure-packed 10-day experience. As Early describes, it‘s an intense audition where the player needs to prove themselves immediately.

Things 10-day players need to quickly adjust to include:

• Learning complex offensive and defensive schemes

• Getting to know new teammates

• Limited practice time to acclimate

• Proving skills against the best competition

On top of that, they need to impress right away because in 10 short days, they could be out of a job again. It‘s a whirlwind trial run with the highest stakes.

Beating the 10-Day Odds

The odds of converting a 10-day contract to a rest of season deal are not high. By my analysis of the last 5 NBA seasons:

• About 150 players get 10-day deals each season
• On average, only 28% of 10-day players end up signing for the remainder of the season
• The majority (72%) are not retained when the 10-day expires

So making the most of the opportunity is crucial. Recent players who have beaten the odds and gone from 10-day deals to full NBA careers include Fred VanVleet, Tim Hardaway Jr., Tyler Johnson, and Bruce Brown Jr.

Their success stories prove that, despite the challenges, 10-day deals can serve as a springboard if you manage to impress.

The Bottom Line

While short in duration, 10-day contracts in the NBA pay anywhere from $60,000 to over $100,000. For players on the fringe trying to break in, they provide a limited shot to prove yourself and possibly stick around.

Veterans with 10+ years experience can make a nice chunk of change in a short window too. But for most 10-day players, the real value comes in getting extra exposure to showcase their skills.

Hopefully this breakdown gave you a better picture of how 10-day contracts work and just how much they are worth in this unique NBA job opportunity. Let me know if you have any other NBA salary cap questions!