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What is an Exhibit 10 contract in the NBA?

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

Published October 16, 2026. Last updated October 16, 2026.

Every fall, NBA teams fill training camp with players who will not make the 15-man roster. It is the contract most of them sign, and it is written for a specific path: camp with the NBA team, then a season with its G League affiliate. The contract the best of them move into is explained in how the NBA two-way contract works; this article covers the step before it.

How is the contract built?

It is a standard NBA contract with an attachment that the 2023 collective bargaining agreement allows only on a narrow deal. Under Article II, Section 3(s) of the 2023 CBA, the contract must run one season, pay the minimum salary, carry no other bonus and no guarantee beyond what the attachment allows. The attachment adds two things:

• A bonus if the player is waived before the season and joins the team's G League affiliate.
• A conversion option that lets the team turn the deal into a two-way contract before opening night.

How much is the Exhibit 10 bonus in 2026-27?

Between $5,000 and $91,000, set in each player's contract, per Hoops Rumors. The ceiling started at $75,000 in 2023-24 and rises with the salary cap each year, under the same CBA section. The bonus does not count against the team's salary cap. Every rung of the pro ladder, from the G League to the standard minimum, is compared in how to play professional basketball.

The bonus is paid only if every condition is met:

1. The team waives the player before the first day of the regular season.
2. He signs with the G League before its deadline for designating affiliate players.
3. The G League assigns him to that team's affiliate, and he reports on time.
4. He stays for 60 consecutive days of the G League season.

Two exceptions protect the player. A call-up to the NBA team does not break the 60 days if he returns to the affiliate afterward, and an injury suffered playing for the affiliate still earns the bonus. Signing with any other professional team, including a club abroad, before day 60 forfeits it. On top of the bonus he earns his G League salary, which was $45,000 in 2025-26 and rises 3% a year, per Hoops Rumors.

How many of these contracts can a team sign?

Six at a time, under Article II, Section 3(s), and only a team with a G League affiliate can attach the bonus. Camp rosters are capped at 21 players between seasons, including two-way players (Article XXIX), which is why those spots fill quickly in September.

One rule protects players with ties to another affiliate. If a different team's G League affiliate holds his returning rights, a team signing him must tell him so in writing first, or face a fine of at least $25,000. A player in that spot may not be able to collect the bonus with the team that signs him.

How does an Exhibit 10 become a two-way contract?

The team exercises the conversion option, and it must do so before the first day of the regular season (Article II, Section 11(h)). On conversion, the player's pay becomes the $678,882 two-way salary, the bonus disappears, and the contract is protected for the "conversion protection amount," which must equal the bonus he would have earned. The 2026-27 regular season opens October 20, so this year's window closes October 19. Sacramento used it on October 15, converting Leaky Black after his preseason, per Hoops Rumors.

From an agent's seat, the bonus figure is the most negotiable number in the deal. Because the conversion guarantee must match it, a higher bonus protects the player on every path the contract can take.

What happens if the player makes the team?

If the team keeps him past opening night, the same conversion protection amount becomes guaranteed, up to $91,000, and he earns the minimum salary for every day he stays. Anything beyond that guarantee is earned only while he remains on the roster, so a player kept in October can still be waived in January. A player who sticks and later earns a rookie scale deal faces the extension decisions in how rookie scale extensions and restricted free agency work.

What is the difference between Exhibit 9 and Exhibit 10?

Exhibit 9 protects the team; the bonus attachment pays the player. An Exhibit 9 contract is a one-season, non-guaranteed training camp deal that lets the team waive a player injured in camp without paying his salary (Article II, Section 3(r)). A team may sign one only when it already has at least 14 players on regular contracts, and it can hold no more than six non-guaranteed training camp contracts at once. A contract can carry both exhibits; if the team converts it to a two-way, the Exhibit 9 falls away.

For a player deciding between offers, the order of questions is simple: which team's affiliate gives the most minutes, how large is the bonus, and how many two-way spots are open. Compare the G League path with an offer abroad using how overseas basketball contracts work, and keep the agent fee in mind: the NBPA caps it at 2% on minimum deals, as covered in how to become an NBA agent.