The players on non-guaranteed contracts will clear waivers on Monday, before the start of the regular season, if such actions are completed on Saturday. A player on a non-guaranteed contract would not have cleared waivers until Wednesday, and the organization would have been responsible for two days' worth of his compensation if they had waited until Monday to do so.
Following the rush of roster changes on Saturday, this is the current situation in the NBA.
Teams with rosters that do not exceed the regular season cap
Out of the 30 NBA teams, 29 have rosters that adhere to the league's regular season roster restrictions, which allow clubs to have no more than 15 players on standard contracts or three on two-way contracts.
With three players on two-ways and 15 players on regular contracts, the following 14 teams are nearing the limit:
Teams with rosters that do not exceed the regular season cap
Out of the 30 NBA teams, 29 have rosters that adhere to the league's regular season roster restrictions, which allow clubs to have no more than 15 players on standard contracts or three on two-way contracts.
With three players on two-ways and 15 players on regular contracts, the following 14 teams are nearing the limit:
- Atlanta Hawks
- Brooklyn Nets
- Chicago Bulls
- Dallas Mavericks
- Denver Nuggets
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Los Angeles Lakers
- Milwaukee Bucks
- Oklahoma City Thunder
- Portland Trail Blazers
- San Antonio Spurs
- Toronto Raptors
- Utah Jazz
- Washington Wizards
These rosters are not necessarily set in stone just because they appear prepared for the regular season. Before the regular season roster deadline on Monday, it would not be shocking if one or more of these teams made a small adjustment. Simply replacing one two-way player with another may accomplish it.
The 11 teams listed below have three players on two-way contracts and fourteen players on regular contracts:
The 11 teams listed below have three players on two-way contracts and fourteen players on regular contracts:
- Boston Celtics
- Cleveland Cavaliers
- Golden State Warriors
- Houston Rockets
- Indiana Pacers
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Miami Heat
- New Orleans Pelicans
- Philadelphia 76ers
- Phoenix Suns
- Sacramento Kings
Many of these clubs will start the season with an open roster space to either keep their expected tax cost under control or preserve some financial flexibility because they are either in the luxury tax area or have little flexibility below the tax line. However, that is not true for every one of them. For example, the Rockets are exempt from the tax and could easily add players to their roster if they so want.
The regular season limits apply to four additional teams. The following are those teams:
- Charlotte Hornets: 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
- Detroit Pistons: 14 players on standard contracts and one on a two-way deal.
- New York Knicks: 12 players on standard contracts and three on two-way deals.
- Orlando Magic: 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.
The open two-way spots will probably be filled as quickly as possible by the Hornets, Pistons, and Magic. For its openings, Detroit is really already interested in two players: Cole Swider and Alondes Williams. I would wager that Charlotte and Orlando will acquire another two-way player shortly because there are no cap savings associated with keeping a two-way spot vacant.
With only $3.58M remaining below that second-apron barrier, which they cannot exceed at any time during the 2024–25 season, the Knicks are in one of the NBA's most restrictive hard cap situations. The expectation is that they will sign a veteran to a minimum contract and promote a two-way rookie to the regular roster because they can not even carry two more minimum-salary veterans. The top candidate, Ariel Hukporti, would count against the cap for the rookie minimum ($1,157,153) rather than the veteran minimum ($2,087,519), allowing the Knicks to stay below the hard cap.
Teams who still need to take action before the deadline on Monday
There is just one NBA team that has not yet made the roster reductions required to meet the regular season cap:
Three players are on two-way contracts and 16 players are on regular contracts with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Wolves seem interested in keeping Dozier, so veteran forward Keita Bates-Diop will probably be the odd man out. The Towns traded for Bates-Diop, who missed Saturday's practice.
Reported signings for Exhibit 10 that never happened
We checked in a few weeks ago on the rumored Exhibit 10 transactions that were still pending, pointing out that the majority would still be official before opening night.
And sure enough, that was the case. Nine of the 11 players we highlighted signed the stated Exhibit 10 contracts and were later waived. Boo Buie, the tenth player, signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Knicks instead of completing his expected contract with the Suns.
Former Missouri guard Sean East II never signed with the Lakers, therefore it is the only rumored Exhibit 10 deal that remains unfinished.
Although it is legally still possible for East and the Lakers to finalize that agreement on Sunday or Monday, it does not seem likely given that the organization would incur a cap charge by signing and dismissing East at this late point in the summer. The Lakers are unlikely to be so careless about adding even a little bit to their team salary, as they only have $45K leftover after taxes.