This time of year, plenty of players are signing 10-day contracts, as witnessed by the 10 guys currently on one of those short-term deals. Usually someone on a 10-day contract is an end-of-the-bench player, but occasionally teams have larger plans for these kinds of pickups. That can create competition for their services, and instead of a 10-day, sometimes teams will give a player a deal for the rest of the season with a non-guaranteed year or two tacked on.
But, based on last year's results, teams almost always divest themselves of these players before any of the non-guaranteed years begin. Of the 11 players who, after the trade deadline last season, signed contracts that covered the rest of 2011/12 and included additional seasons that weren't fully guaranteed, only Donald Sloan made it past training camp this year. Five of them were included in trades and waived after that. All of the deals were for the minimum. Here's the complete list:
- April 25th: Spurs sign Derrick Byars through 2012/13: San Antonio waived him in August.
- April 21st: Cavaliers sign D.J. Kennedy through 2012/13: The Cavs traded Kennedy to the Grizzlies in July, who waived him, re-signed him, and waived him again before training camp was over.
- April 20th: Hornets sign Jerome Dyson through 2013/14: New Orleans traded him to the Suns in July as part of the Robin Lopez deal, and Phoenix waived him in August.
- April 20th: Knicks sign Dan Gadzuric through 2012/13: New York traded him to the Blazers in July as part of the Raymond Felton deal, and Portland waived him shortly thereafter.
- April 20th: Celtics sign Sean Williams through 2012/13: Boston traded him to the Rockets in July as part of the Courtney Lee deal, and Houston waived him in August.
- April 18th: Hornets sign Darryl Watkins through 2013/14: New Orleans traded him to the Sixers in July as part of the Jarrett Jack deal, and Philadelphia waived him shortly thereafter.
- April 14th: Bobcats sign Jamario Moon through 2012/13: Charlotte waived him in July.
- April 12th: Rockets sign Diamon Simpson to a minimum-salary contract through 2012/13: Houston waived him in September.
- March 27th: Rockets sign Courtney Fortson through 2012/13: Despite picking up its team option for this season, Houston waived him in September.
- March 17th: Cavaliers sign Manny Harris through 2012/13: Cleveland waived him in July.
- March 16th: Cavaliers sign Donald Sloan through 2012/13: Sloan made the team out of camp, but Cleveland waived him on Christmas, a couple weeks before his contract would have become guaranteed for the rest of this season.