The cost of 10-day contracts is often overlooked. That’s in large measure because the financial outlay is so small compared to the multimillion-dollar salaries common in the NBA. Almost every 10-day deal is for the minimum salary, and they’re prorated down to 10/170ths of the full-season minimum. The most any player could make on a standard 10-day contract this season would be $88,187, and that’s only if the player is a veteran of 10 or more years. Players can sign as many as two 10-day contracts with a single team, and more if they end up with different teams, but while the money adds up, it doesn’t amount to much. The most any player has earned on 10-day contracts so far is the roughly $160K that Ryan Hollins has pulled down on two 10-day deals with Memphis.
Those contracts only cost the Grizzlies a total of $111,444, since the league reimburses teams for amounts that exceed the prorated two-year veteran’s minimum. Still, rookie and one-year vets are cheaper 10-day investments, and it’s no surprise that many of them are among the players who’ve received 10-day contracts so far this season.
One rookie, Jordan McRae, is on a 10-day deal that pays him an unusual amount. He’s making $37,065 instead of the standard $30,888 on the second of his two 10-day pacts with Phoenix because it’s actually a 12-day contract. All 10-day contracts have to cover at least three games, and the All-Star break necessitates a longer deal.
Here’s a look at what every player on a 10-day contract has earned this season:
- Ryan Hollins, Grizzlies — two contracts ($160,340, cost to team $111,444)
- Jeff Ayres, Clippers — two contracts ($129,482, cost to team $111,444)
- Lorenzo Brown, Suns — two contracts ($111,444)
- Erick Green, Jazz — two contracts ($99,418)
- Sean Kilpatrick, Nuggets — two contracts ($99,418)
- Jordan McRae, Suns — two contracts ($67,953)
- Elliot Williams, Grizzlies — one contract ($64,741, cost to team $55,722)
- Bryce Dejean-Jones, Pelicans — two contracts ($61,776)
- Keith Appling, Magic — two contracts ($61,776)
- Orlando Johnson, Suns — one contract ($55,722)
- Cory Jefferson, Suns — one contract ($49,709)
- Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Knicks — one contract ($30,888)
- J.J. O’Brien, Jazz — one contract ($30,888)