Cavaliers Sign Zhaire Smith To Exhibit 10 Deal
11:58am: The signing is official, Hoops Rumors has learned. Cleveland now has a full 21-man offseason roster.
11:14am: The Cavaliers are set to add a former first-round pick to their 21-man roster, according to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), who hears from agent Adie von Gontard that Cleveland has agreed to an Exhibit 10 deal with free agent wing Zhaire Smith.
The 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft, Smith battled health issues after going pro and was limited to 13 regular season appearances in two NBA seasons with the Sixers. He was traded during the 2020 offseason to the Pistons, who subsequently waived him. The former Texas Tech standout hasn’t been on an NBA roster since he signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Grizzlies in December 2020.
Although Smith was on the roster for the Memphis Hustle – the Grizzlies’ G League affiliate – in 2020/21, he didn’t play at all that season and hasn’t suited up for any team since then, having continued to be plagued by injuries. According to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, the 24-year-old underwent separate cleanup procedures on both knees during the summer of 2022.
“Every year I was like, ‘Oh, I’m about to play, I’m about to play,’ then there was just a setback,” Smith said, per Mussatto. “I didn’t know what was going on with my knees, and that was the hardest part.”
Smith’s ongoing effort to make an NBA comeback saw him join the Thunder for Summer League action this July. He appeared in four total games in Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, averaging 6.0 points on 75.0% shooting in 14.0 minutes per game.
Exhibit 10 contracts can be converted to two-way deals, but the Cavaliers have filled all three of their two-way slots, so they likely envision having Smith suit up for their G League affiliate, the Cleveland Charge. If he’s waived before the NBA season begins and then spends at least 60 days with the Charge, Smith would be eligible to earn an Exhibit 10 bonus worth up to $75K.
Team USA Back To No. 1 In Latest FIBA Rankings
The United States didn’t win a medal at this year’s World Cup, but the team’s fourth-place finish helped move the program back to No. 1 in FIBA’s updated world rankings.
The rankings are based on national teams’ performance in recent international competitions, including the World Cup, Olympics, and various regional tournaments. The U.S. had previously been at No. 2, behind Spain, the 2019 World Cup champions. The Spaniards finished ninth at this year’s World Cup and fell to second place in FIBA’s rankings.
Germany, Canada, and Latvia are among the biggest risers. The Germans moved up from 11th to third after winning the 2023 World Cup, while Canada’s bronze-medal finish helped them jump from 15th to sixth. Latvia, having finished fifth at the World Cup, climbed an impressive 22 spots, from 30th to eighth, in FIBA’s rankings.
Australia (fourth), Serbia (fifth), Argentina (seventh), France (ninth), and Lithuania (10th) are the other teams in the top 10. South Sudan is another notable riser, having leaped from 63rd to 31st to become Africa’s top-ranked national club.
FIBA’s rankings don’t mean much once the games begin, but they’re used to determine potting, seeding, and groupings in future competitions, so it will benefit teams like Germany, Canada, and Latvia going forward to be ranked higher, as Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca notes (via Twitter).
The full rankings can be viewed right here.
Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript: 9/14/2023
Hoops Rumors hosted a live chat today at 2:00 pm Central time (3:00 pm Eastern).
Click here to view the transcript, and join us on Tuesday for our next live chat, hosted by Dana Gauruder!
Super-Max Candidates To Watch In 2023/24
Note: This is an updated version of an article that was sent exclusively to our Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers in June. Click here for more information on Trade Rumors Front Office.
The NBA’s Designated Veteran rule, as we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, allows players to qualify for a maximum salary worth 35% of the cap before they gain the required NBA service time.
Typically, a player is ineligible to receive a maximum contract that starts at 35% of the cap until he has at least 10 years of experience, but the Designated Veteran rule gives a player with between seven and nine years of experience the opportunity to do so if he meets certain performance criteria. This has become colloquially known as signing a “super-max” deal.
The performance criteria are as follows (only one of the following must be true):
- The player was named to an All-NBA team and/or was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the most recent season, or in two of the last three seasons.
- The player was named the NBA MVP in any of the three most recent seasons.
Since the NBA introduced the concept of the Designated Veteran contract in 2017, 12 players have signed them across seven offseasons. Celtics wing Jaylen Brown became the latest player to join that group this summer when he signed a five-year super-max deal that could become the NBA’s first $300MM contract.
Brown will be the only player who signs such a contract this offseason, but it’s worth taking a peek down the road to see which players are the best candidates to join the list of super-max recipients in 2024 and 2025.
We can start by penciling in another Celtic, Jayson Tatum, for 2024. Although he doesn’t yet have enough years of NBA service to sign a Designated Veteran extension, Tatum met the performance criteria in the spring by earning his second consecutive All-NBA berth.
That means that even if he doesn’t make an All-NBA team in 2024, he’ll have received an All-NBA nod in two of the previous three seasons when he meets the service time criteria next summer, making him super-max eligible. It seems likely the Celtics will offer him a Designated Veteran extension at that time.
Here are some other candidates to watch during the 2023/24 season:
2024
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Brandon Ingram (Pelicans)
- Jamal Murray (Nuggets)
- Pascal Siakam (Raptors)
Because a player become ineligible for a Designated Veteran extension if he’s traded after his first four years in the NBA, prime candidates like Donovan Mitchell and Domantas Sabonis won’t be able to qualify. Still, there’s an intriguing group of candidates in play for next summer.
Ingram, Murray, and Siakam, members of the 2016 draft class, would have become super-max eligible if they had made an All-NBA team this year. They’ll get another chance in 2024.
Ingram averaged a career-best 24.7 points and 5.8 assists per night in 2022/23, but injuries limited him to just 45 games. While he’s not one of the best 15 players in the NBA, it’s not impossible to imagine the 26-year-old earning an All-NBA spot if he stays healthy and helps lead the Pelicans to a top-four seed in the West. He’s probably a long shot, but we can’t rule him out entirely.
Murray was making his way back from an ACL tear last season, which meant he was subject to load management and wasn’t necessarily at his best from day one. But his postseason performance – 26.1 points per game on .473/.396/.926 shooting en route to a championship – served as a reminder that he has All-NBA upside.
Siakam made the All-NBA Second Team in 2020 and the Third Team in 2022 and received some votes in 2023. However, he still needs one more All-NBA nod in 2024 to become eligible for a Designated Veteran deal. He’ll be a candidate to watch as long as he remains in Toronto for the 2023/24 season. A trade – which would make him ineligible – still looms as a possibility.
Adebayo and Fox are 2017 draftees with just six years of NBA experience, which means that Fox didn’t meet the Designated Veteran performance criteria by earning All-NBA honors in May — he’ll need to do it again in 2024 to qualify for a super-max deal. His performance this past year showed that he’s capable of it.
Adebayo’s path to an All-NBA berth is complicated by the fact that the All-NBA teams will become positionless beginning in 2024. That means voters won’t necessarily have to choose three centers, which may reduce his odds of making the cut.
Still, the field of All-NBA candidates may be more wide open than usual in 2024, since the league is also requiring players to appear in at least 65 games in order to be eligible for one of the 15 spots. That means a player who misses a few weeks with an injury might be out of the running. If Ingram, Murray, Siakam, Fox, and Abebayo can stay healthy and play at least 65 times, their All-NBA odds will increase.
It’s worth noting too that being named Defensive Player of the Year is another way to qualify for a super-max. Adebayo has finished in the top five in voting for that award in each of the last four seasons and is a legitimate candidate to win it at some point.
2025
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
Doncic, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jackson were drafted in 2018 and have just five years of NBA experience, so they’re still two years away from having the service time required for a Designated Veteran contract — none of them would be able to sign a super-max extension until 2025. However, they all have an opportunity to meet the performance criteria in 2024.
Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander made up the All-NBA First Team backcourt in 2023, so if they make an All-NBA team again next year, they’ll have done so in at least two of the three years leading up to the 2025 offseason.
As for Jackson, he missed out on All-NBA honors in 2023, but was the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. It’s a tall order, but if he can win a second DPOY award in either of the next two seasons, he’ll make himself eligible to sign a super-max contract in 2025.
The rookie scale extension recipients
- LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
- Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
- Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
Ball, Edwards, and Haliburton have all signed five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extensions this offseason that project to start at 25% of the 2024/25 cap. If we assume the cap will rise by the maximum allowable 10%, those deals would be worth just shy of $217MM.
However, all three extensions include Rose Rule language. This is another form of the super-max — we can call it the “mini” super-max, paradoxical as that may sound. Unlike a player who signs a Designated Veteran contract, which starts at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, a player who meets the Rose Rule criteria can receive a starting salary worth 30% of the cap rather than 25%.
The performance criteria for a Rose Rule salary increase are essentially the exact same as for a Designated Veteran bump, but must be achieved by the end of the player’s four-year rookie contract. That means Ball, Edwards, and Haliburton would have to make the All-NBA team in 2024 in order to increase the projected value of their respective extensions to $260MM over five years — an All-NBA berth in 2025 or 2026 would be too late.
Each of these three players has an All-Star berth under his belt, so making the leap to All-NBA certainly isn’t inconceivable. Edwards may be the best bet of the three to qualify for the mini super-max, but if Ball and Haliburton can lead their teams to playoff spots, they’d certainly have a case.
Magic Sign Mac McClung To Exhibit 10 Contract
SEPTEMBER 13: The signing is official, the Magic announced in a press release.
AUGUST 22: Free agent guard Mac McClung has agreed to a deal with the Magic, league sources Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link), it’ll be an Exhibit 10 contract.
McClung only appeared in four NBA games in 2022/23 after signing a two-way contract with the Sixers. However, it was an eventful season for the 24-year-old, who earned a spot in the Rising Stars event and the G League’s Next Up game at All-Star weekend. Of course, he also competed in the Slam Dunk Contest and won it with a series of memorable dunks.
McClung appeared in 31 G League regular season games for the Delaware Blue Coats – Philadelphia’s affiliate – and averaged 19.8 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in just 26.8 minutes per game. He posted an impressive .550/.474/.823 shooting line during the NBAGL regular season and helped lead the Blue Coats to a G League title.
An Exhibit 10 contract can be converted to a two-way deal, so it’s possible McClung will earn a spot on the Magic’s extended (18-man) roster with a strong training camp. If he’s waived before the regular season and then spends at least 60 days with the Osceola Magic, Orlando’s affiliate, he’d earn a bonus worth up to $75K.
Orlando previously agreed to Exhibit 10 deals with Trevelin Queen and Miye Oni.
Teams Limited To Minimum Salary Contract Offers
There won’t be many free agents who sign for more than the veteran’s minimum between now and the end of the NBA’s regular season. The majority of the players whose markets exceeded the minimum came off the board pretty quickly in July, and teams aren’t looking to spend big on the players who are still available.
Still, that doesn’t mean every signing for the next seven months will be of the minimum-salary variety. In certain cases – especially on the buyout market in February – being able to offer a couple million dollars more than the minimum could be the difference between a team landing a free agent and missing out on him.
With that in mind, it’s worth checking in on which teams don’t currently have the ability to offer more than the minimum. By our count, about a third of the NBA is in this boat, though some of those clubs could generate some spending flexibility by making cost-cutting trades.
Here’s a breakdown of the teams currently limited to minimum-salary contract offers for free agents:
Teams above the second tax apron:
- Golden State Warriors
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Miami Heat
- Phoenix Suns
Beginning this offseason, the NBA added a second tax “apron” and introduced new restrictions for the teams whose salaries exceed that apron. In 2023/24, the second apron is set at $182,794,000 ($17.5MM above the tax line) — it will increase along with the cap in future years.
In addition to being prohibited from using the standard mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception, teams whose salaries are above the second apron aren’t permitted to make use of the taxpayer mid-level exception, which is worth $5MM. The Warriors, Clippers, Heat, and Suns all fall into that group and therefore don’t have any cap exceptions available to use on free agents besides the minimum exception.
Teams very close to the second tax apron:
- Boston Celtics
- Milwaukee Bucks
The Celtics and Bucks may be able to start the season with team salaries below the second apron, but from a practical standpoint, it will be extremely difficult for them to make use of the taxpayer mid-level exception, which would hard-cap them at that second apron.
Milwaukee, in particular, has several contract bonuses to account for and would find its team salary well above the second tax apron if certain players earn those unlikely incentives. Boston has slightly more cap flexibility, but will still almost certainly be limited to minimum-salary offers for the rest of 2023/24, barring a cost-cutting move.
Over-the-cap teams that have used all their cap exceptions:
- Denver Nuggets
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Toronto Raptors
The Nuggets are the only team this season to use the taxpayer mid-level exception. It’s the lone cap exception available to them in free agency, since their team salary is above the first apron, so they can’t offer more than the minimum to free agents.
The Thunder, meanwhile, used their entire room exception, while the Raptors used their non-taxpayer mid-level exception and bi-annual exception. Both teams are now over the cap and only have the minimum salary exception left to sign a free agent outright (a sign-and-trade remains possible, but is unlikely at this stage of the offseason).
Over-the-cap teams whose remaining exception money is less than the two-year veteran’s minimum:
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Sacramento Kings
The Lakers have $1,905,000 remaining on their non-taxpayer mid-level exception, while the Kings have $1,381,536 left on their room exception. Both figures fall short of the full-season minimum salary for a two-year veteran ($2,019,706), so neither club could offer more than the minimum to a veteran free agent at this time.
However, that leftover exception money isn’t useless. Los Angeles and Sacramento could each offer more than the minimum to a rookie free agent, for instance. And their remaining exception money won’t begin prorating downward until after the trade deadline. So if L.A. wants to sign a veteran free agent in December, it could use its MLE to offer more than the player’s prorated minimum salary at that point.
International Notes: Patton, Sarr, Zagars, Canada
Former NBA center Justin Patton has signed with the Shanxi Loongs of the Chinese Basketball Association, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
The 16th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Patton only ended up playing in 22 NBA games for the Timberwolves, Sixers, Thunder, and Rockets between 2017-21 before heading overseas. A series of foot injuries derailed the early part of his professional career, but the 26-year-old has been able to stay on the court more frequently in Israel and France over the past two seasons. This will be Patton’s first stint in China.
Here are a few more notes from around the international basketball world:
- While he’s not as tantalizing a prospect as Victor Wembanyama, another French center – Alexandre Sarr – is certainly earning fans ahead of the 2024 NBA draft, writes Marc J. Spears of Andscape. The 18-year-old, playing for the Perth Wildcats, averaged 21.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.0 blocks in the team’s two games vs. the G League Ignite last week. “Very intriguing prospect,” one NBA general manager said to Spears. “Top-five pick. In the conversation for the No. 1 pick.”
- Turkish club Fenerbahce is believed to be nearing a deal with World Cup standout Arturs Zagars, according to Aris Barkas and Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net. Zagars, whose strong play for Latvia during the World Cup reportedly attracted NBA interest, is expected to be loaned to BC Wolves to start the 2023/24 season if he finalizes an agreement with Fenerbahce, per Eurohoops.
- Zagars’ showcase of his NBA potential is one of six takeaways Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports wrote about in his World Cup round-up.
- Veteran forward Melvin Ejim has never played in the NBA since going pro in 2014, but he has represented Canada in several international competitions, earning bronze medals at the 2015 AmeriCup and 2023 World Cup. As Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops.net relays, Ejim spoke this week about what it means for the Canadian program to knock off the U.S. and to claim a spot in the 2024 Olympics. “Bronze is amazing, but we have the talent, the people, and the organization to go for gold,” he said. “In the Olympics, we can show that.”
Brandon Ingram Not Expected To Pursue Extension This Offseason
Having signed his current five-year contract with the Pelicans during the 2020 offseason, Brandon Ingram became eligible for a veteran extension earlier this summer. However, multiple sources tell Christian Clark of NOLA.com that Ingram will wait until the 2024 offseason to explore a new deal with the team.
Ingram’s decision isn’t related to his desire to remain in New Orleans long-term — he’ll simply be eligible for a more lucrative extension next offseason than he is now, particularly if he makes an All-NBA team in 2023/24. Within the organization, there’s no “anxiety” about Ingram’s desire to hold off on contract talks until next summer, Clark notes.
Ingram will earn $33.8MM this coming season and a little over $36MM in 2024/25 before his current contract expires. He could sign a three-year extension this offseason that could be worth up to 30% of the ’25/26 cap. If we assume 10% salary cap increases for each of the next two seasons, that would work out to about $160MM.
If Ingram were to wait until next offseason to sign a new contract, his maximum extension would increase to a projected $221MM for four years (based on 10% annual cap increases). If he makes an All-NBA team and becomes eligible for a super-max contract, his maximum extension would jump to $334MM for five years (again, based on 10% cap increases).
There’s no guarantee that the Pelicans would be willing to make that substantial an offer when the time comes, but the fact that Ingram could lock in significantly more guaranteed money by waiting explains why he’s not rushing to sign an extension before the ’23/24 season begins. Once opening night arrives next month, Ingram will become ineligible to sign an extension until the start of the 2024 offseason.
An All-NBA season in 2023/24 is probably a long shot for a player who has made just one All-Star team through seven years in the league, but the fact that players must appear in at least 65 games this season to qualify for an All-NBA team could open up the door for someone like Ingram. Conversely, of course, Ingram himself hasn’t played more than 65 games in a season since 2017, so the 26-year-old will need to stay healthier this year in order to have a chance to be an All-NBA candidate.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Ingram averaged a career-high 24.7 points, 5.8 assists, and 5.5 rebounds in 34.2 minutes per game (45 appearances) in 2022/23, posting a shooting line of .484/.390/.882.
NBA Board Of Governors Approves New Player Participation Policy
The NBA’s Board of Governors voted on Wednesday to approve new rules that will strengthen the league’s policy on resting players and will subject teams to fines for violating those rules, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The vote was unanimous, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
We briefly outlined these new rules on Monday when word initially broke that the NBA was planning to implement them. However, in an article worth reading in full, ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who refers to the new rules as the “player participation policy,” provides a far more in-depth look at how exactly that new policy will function.
As Marks outlines, an NBA team will be subject to a fine if it rests a healthy “star” (defined as a player who has made an All-Star or All-NBA team during the previous three seasons) in any of the following scenarios:
- If it rests a star player in a game that is nationally televised or in an in-season tournament game.
- If it rests more than one star is in the same game.
- If it rests a star in a road game instead of a home game (teams must maintain a balance between the two, with the preference being for rest days to occur in home games).
- If it shuts down a healthy star for an extended period of time (ie. if a tanking team stops playing one if its star players down the stretch).
- If a star who is being rested is not on the bench and visible to fans.
A team will be fined $100K for its first violation of this policy, $250K for its second violation, and $1.25MM for a third violation, per Marks. Fines for additional violations would continue to increase by $1MM in each instance.
The NBA will permit certain exceptions, as Marks outlines, particularly in back-to-back scenarios. If a player meets certain age/experience benchmarks (35 years old on opening night; 34,000+ career regular minutes; or 1,000 career regular season and playoff games) or has an injury history that will require load management, a team can ask the league for permission to rest that player for one of the two games in a back-to-back set.
The NBA would still require the star player to be active for the nationally televised or in-season tournament game in this scenario, unless both games in the back-to-back are on national TV.
Absences for personal reasons or certain other unusual circumstances will also be permitted, per Marks. End-of-season flexibility is another exception worth noting — for example, a team that has clinched its playoff seed may receive approval to rest more than one star in its regular season finale.
The NBA will have the ability to launch an investigation and conduct an independent medical review if it suspects a team is listing a healthy star player out due to a dubious injury. For instance, if the new policy had been in place last season when the Wizards shut down Bradley Beal for the last 10 games of last season due to “knee soreness,” the league may have looked into that, Marks explains.
The league also has the right to investigate in other scenarios, such as recurring one-game road absences for a star player or a case where there are inconsistent public statements about a star’s status.
The list of which players qualify as “stars” will constantly be changing as new All-Star and All-NBA teams are announced, but here are the players who meet the criteria entering the 2023/24 season, per Marks:
- Trae Young (Hawks)
- Dejounte Murray (Hawks)
- Ben Simmons (Nets)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
- LaMelo Ball (Hornets)
- DeMar DeRozan (Bulls) *
- Zach LaVine (Bulls)
- Nikola Vucevic (Bulls)
- Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
- Jarrett Allen (Cavaliers)
- Darius Garland (Cavaliers)
- Luka Doncic (Mavericks)
- Kyrie Irving (Mavericks)
- Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
- Stephen Curry (Warriors) *
- Draymond Green (Warriors)
- Andrew Wiggins (Warriors)
- Chris Paul (Warriors) *
- Fred VanVleet (Rockets)
- Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
- Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
- Paul George (Clippers)
- LeBron James (Lakers) *
- Anthony Davis (Lakers)
- Ja Morant (Grizzlies)
- Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
- Jimmy Butler (Heat)
- Bam Adebayo (Heat)
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
- Jrue Holiday (Bucks)
- Khris Middleton (Bucks)
- Rudy Gobert (Timberwolves)
- Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves)
- Mike Conley (Timberwolves) *
- Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
- Zion Williamson (Pelicans)
- Julius Randle (Knicks)
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
- Joel Embiid (Sixers)
- James Harden (Sixers) *
- Bradley Beal (Suns)
- Devin Booker (Suns)
- Kevin Durant (Suns) *
- Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
- Domantas Sabonis (Kings)
- De’Aaron Fox (Kings)
- Pascal Siakam (Raptors)
- Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)
Note: The players marked with an asterisk (*) will either be 35 years old on opening night or have accumulated 34,000+ career regular minutes or 1,000 career regular season and playoff games, making them potentially eligible for pre-approved rest nights on back-to-backs.
The NBA has officially released the full policy right here.
Cavaliers Sign Sharife Cooper, Pete Nance
The Cavaliers have officially signed free agent guard Sharife Cooper and forward Pete Nance, the team announced today in a press release. Cleveland also formally confirmed its deal with Justin Powell, which we previously detailed.
The 48th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Cooper spent his rookie year on a two-way contract with Atlanta, then played for the Cleveland Charge in the G League last season. Appearing in – and starting – 25 games for the Charge, he averaged 21.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 3.8 rebounds in 32.5 minutes per night, with a shooting line of .431/.316/.853.
Nance’s Exhibit 10 agreement with the Cavs was reported shortly after he went undrafted in June. He has ties to the organization — he’s the son of former Cavs legend Larry Nance and the younger brother of Larry Nance Jr., who spent parts of four seasons with Cleveland.
After spending four seasons with Northwestern, Nance transferred to North Carolina for a “super senior” season in 2022/23, averaging 10.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG and 1.1 BPG on .422/.320/.816 shooting in 30 games (30.1 MPG) for the Tar Heels. He had a larger offensive role with the Wildcats in ’21/22, posting 14.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 2.7 APG and 1.1 BPG on .497/.452/.768 shooting in 30 games (27.2 MPG).
While it hasn’t been confirmed in each case, Cooper, Nance, and Powell likely all received Exhibit 10 contracts, which can be converted into two-way deals before the regular season or would put them on track to earn bonuses worth up to $75K if they’re waived and then spend at least 60 days with the Charge.
Cleveland now has 20 players under contract, one away from the offseason limit.