As of December 29, there were 30 players who were signed to standard, full-season contracts but whose salaries for the 2022/23 campaign weren’t fully guaranteed.
The deadline for teams to waive those players and avoid having their full ’22/23 salaries become guaranteed was on Saturday, January 7 at 4:00 p.m. CT.
Although their salaries won’t technically become guaranteed until January 10, those players would still receive their full-season guarantees if they’re cut today or tomorrow, since they wouldn’t clear waivers until at least Tuesday.
Here’s a roundup of the decisions teams made with those 30 players:
Players who will have their salaries guaranteed:
Each player’s salary is noted here. His cap hit is identical to his salary unless otherwise indicated.
- Jonathan Isaac, Magic: $17,400,000
- Danny Green, Grizzlies: $10,000,000
- James Johnson, Pacers: $2,905,851 *
- Markieff Morris, Nets: $2,905,851 *
- Austin Rivers, Timberwolves: $2,905,851 *
- Matthew Dellavedova, Kings: $2,628,597 *
- Ryan Arcidiacono, Knicks: $2,133,278 *
- Justin Jackson, Celtics: $2,133,278 *
- Luke Kornet, Celtics: $2,133,278
- Dennis Smith Jr., Hornets: $2,133,278 *
- Svi Mykhailiuk, Knicks: $1,968,175 *
- Edmond Sumner, Nets: $1,968,175
- Yuta Watanabe, Nets: $1,968,175 *
- Jaylen Nowell, Timberwolves: $1,930,681
- KZ Okpala, Kings: $1,902,133
- Wenyen Gabriel, Lakers: $1,878,720
- Oshae Brissett, Pacers: $1,846,738
- Nathan Knight, Timberwolves: $1,836,090
- Lamar Stevens, Cavaliers: $1,782,621
- Haywood Highsmith, Heat: $1,752,638
- Stanley Johnson, Spurs: $1,670,643 ^
- Jose Alvarado, Pelicans: $1,563,518
- Vit Krejci, Hawks: $1,563,518
- Jock Landale, Suns: $1,563,518
- Austin Reaves, Lakers: $1,563,518
- Tyrese Martin, Hawks: $1,017,781
(*) cap hit of $1,836,090
(^) cap hit of $1,245,164
Of the 26 players on non-guaranteed contracts who were retained, 24 are earning the minimum salary, so the financial impact of keeping them is relatively minor. Still, open roster spots are valuable at this time of year — some of these players were fortunate not to be let go by a team prioritizing flexibility.
Isaac and Green were the only two players in this group earning more than the minimum. Neither has seen the floor this season while recovering from injury, but both had significant partial guarantees on their respective contracts — Isaac was already owed $16MM and Green was owed $7MM, so it didn’t make sense for either player to be cut.
Players who were waived before their salaries became guaranteed:
Each player’s cap hit is noted here. The team would no longer be on the hook for that cap charge if a player is claimed off waivers.
- Noah Vonleh, Spurs: $1,160,955
- Justin Champagnie, Raptors: $825,000
- Kemba Walker, Mavericks: $684,712
- Chima Moneke, Kings: $500,000
All four of these players were on minimum-salary contracts. Walker was signed well after the regular season got underway and Moneke was earning the rookie minimum, so their dead cap hits are especially modest. Champagnie’s and Moneke’s cap figures are the result of previously negotiated partial guarantees, rather than their prorated minimum salaries.
Vonleh was traded from Boston to San Antonio before being waived, as the Celtics reduced their projected luxury tax bill by getting the Spurs to eat that dead money.
There were a few other players with non-guaranteed salaries who were waived earlier in the season. That group consisted of Facundo Campazzo (Mavericks), Jordan Hall (Spurs), Matt Ryan (Lakers), and Alize Johnson (Spurs). Those moves didn’t go down to the wire like the others listed above, having occurred well in advance of the salary guarantee deadline.
Can someone tell me why all the players with an * have a salary larger than their 1,836,090 cap hit? How does a player sign for say over 2 mill but only counts as 1,836,090?
This is from our breakdown of 2022/23 minimum salaries:
“Because the NBA doesn’t want teams to avoid signing veteran players in favor of cheaper, younger players, the league reimburses clubs who sign veterans with three or more years of experience to one-year, minimum-salary contracts. Those deals will only count against the cap – and against a team’s bank balance – for $1,836,090, the minimum salary for a player with two years of experience.
For instance, DeAndre Jordan, who has 14 seasons of NBA experience, signed a one-year, minimum-salary contract with the Nuggets, who will only be charged $1,836,090 for Jordan’s contract. He’ll earn $2,905,851, but the NBA will make up the difference. This only applies to one-year contracts, rather than multiyear deals.”
Thank you so much for explaining this to me. I thought it might be something like that but I wasn’t sure