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How do NBA 10-day contracts and the hardship exception work?

By McKinley Malbrough III, J.D., MS-HRM · Certified WNBA player agent · Former certified NBA agent

Published October 25, 2026. Last updated October 25, 2026.

This guide reads Article II, Section 9 of the 2023 NBA collective bargaining agreement. The CBA leaves the hardship rules to the league, so those details come from a Hoops Rumors glossary entry.

What is an NBA 10-day contract?

A 10-day contract is a player contract, other than a two-way deal, that runs for the longer of ten days or the span of three games played by the team, per Article II, Section 9(a). It is a standard NBA contract, so the player is on the team's main roster, not on a two-way contract. The two-way route is in the two-way contract guide.

Players from the G League or from training camp on an Exhibit 10 contract are among those who can be signed to one.

When can teams sign 10-day contracts, and what do they pay?

Teams may begin signing 10-day contracts on January 5 of any NBA season, per Article II, Section 9(a). The salary is the minimum player salary, per Section 9(b), which varies with the player's years of service. The current figures are in the 2026 NBA minimum salary guide.

The contract is prorated to its length, and the league covers part of the cost for veterans with more experience, per Hoops Rumors. No team may sign a 10-day deal that would run to or past its last regular-season game, per Section 9(d).

How many 10-day contracts can a team and a player have?

A team may sign the same player to a 10-day contract no more than twice in one season, per Article II, Section 9(c). After two, the team cannot sign him to another 10-day deal that season. The player is free to sign a new 10-day deal with another team.

The roster count caps how many a team can carry at one time, per the same section:

Two-way players are not counted in that total, per Section 9(c).

What happens when a 10-day contract ends early or runs out?

A team can end a 10-day deal with written notice and pay only what the contract's Exhibit 1A sets, not through the usual waiver process, per Section 9(f). If it ends the deal early, the team and player cannot sign a new contract until the original term would have expired, per Section 9(g).

Before the deal expires, the team and player may agree on a rest-of-season contract that starts the day after the 10-day term ends, per Section 9(h). That is one route from a tryout to a full roster spot. What a player is owed if later cut is covered by the guaranteed contract guide.

What is the hardship exception?

The hardship exception lets a team add a player beyond its roster limit when injuries leave it short. The CBA says only that when the NBA authorizes a hardship signing, the contract is a 10-day contract regardless of the date, per Section 9(e)(i). That is why a hardship deal can be signed before January 5.

The trigger is set by the league. A team needs at least four players out with injury or illness, each having missed three straight games and expected to miss at least two more weeks, and it must already have 15 players, per Hoops Rumors. The hardship exception adds a roster spot, not cap room.

If the hardship contract would run past the season, its term is the number of days left in the regular season, per Section 9(e)(ii). Hoops Rumors adds that the team gets no Bird rights on that player when it ends.

What should a player and agent know before signing one?

Agents notice that the pay is a floor and the real value is the next contract. A 10-day deal gives a team three games or more of tape and the right to convert quickly. The player should ask which roster spot is opening, whether the team intends a rest-of-season deal, and how the two-contract limit affects a second 10-day offer. Overseas players weighing a return face separate rules in the guide to leaving a club mid-season.