NBA teams have until the final day of the regular season (April 12) to finalize their 15-man rosters and sign players to standard NBA contracts. However, each team only has until March 4 — this Wednesday — to sign a player to a two-way contract.
If you’re a regular Hoops Rumors reader, you’ve likely noticed a significant uptick in two-way activity over the past few weeks, and particularly over the past few days. If you weren’t already aware, now you know why — teams are finalizing their two-way spots for the remainder of the 2025/26 season, with an eye on the future.
There’s overlap between a team’s 15-man roster and its three available two-way spots. For example, 21 players who were on two-way contracts have had their deals converted to standard contracts in ’25/26. The majority of those players received multiyear standard deals, though that’s not always the case.
In an ideal scenario, a team would complete all its conversions before Wednesday so it can back-fill any vacant two-way slots prior to the deadline. That said, two-way contracts can be converted to standard deals until April 12.
As we explain in our glossary entry, a player with fewer than four years of NBA experience can sign a two-way contract with a team. Because a player is credited with a year of service on the last day of a league year (ie. June 30), a player with three years of experience is eligible to sign a two-way contract at any time during his fourth NBA season. Certain players who have four years of experience and have missed an entire season due to injury can still be eligible for a one-year two-way contract as well.
A player who opens a season on a two-way contract can be active for a maximum of 50 games. However, that figure is prorated once the season begins — players who finalize their deals on Monday or Tuesday are eligible to be active for a maximum of 12 games, while players who complete two-way contracts on Wednesday can be active for up to 11.
Players who have spent all of 2025/26 on two-way contracts will earn $636,435 in 2025/26, half of the rookie minimum. But just like the active-game limit, that figure is prorated for those who sign in-season deals. For example, a player who finalizes his two-way contract on Wednesday will earn $146,307.