List Of Substitute Players Signed For NBA Restart

Our list of players who have opted out of the NBA restart (or who have been replaced after they contracted COVID-19) includes details on the substitute players who have been signed to replace them. However, not every player who has signed a substitute contract this summer is mentioned within that list.

Players who were signed in place of promoted two-way players or who filled empty two-way contract slots are also among those who technically signed “substitute contracts.” While they’re not replacing a specific player, they fall into the same category as those substitute players who have been signed as a result of opt-outs or positive coronavirus tests.

The following details, which don’t apply to players who signed traditional contracts, apply to substitute players:

• Their contracts (all of which are worth the minimum) don’t count against their teams’ salary caps.
• They’ll be unrestricted free agents at season’s end, even if they don’t yet have four years of NBA experience.
• They won’t have any form of Bird rights (including Non-Bird rights) at season’s end.
  • Note: In a case like Jerian Grant‘s, his Bird rights will actually belong to his old team (the Magic) rather than his current team (the Wizards), since Orlando never renounced him.

Essentially, these substitute contracts are just meant to provide teams with enough bodies not to be short-handed in Orlando this summer. Clubs like the Nets that have to sign multiple substitute players won’t benefit from holding the rights to those players after the season and won’t have the opportunity to make them restricted free agents. However, they also won’t face any additional cap penalties by having to sign several substitute players.

Teams can sign substitute players up until the last day of the seeding games in mid-August. Even after that point, clubs can continue to sign substitute players to replace players who test positive for COVID-19, though substitutes signed in the postseason must have between zero and three years of NBA experience.

Listed below are the players who have signed substitute contracts for the summer. We’ll continue to update this list as more deals are finalized.

Brooklyn Nets

• Michael Beasley, F (story)
  • Replaced Taurean Prince (coronavirus).
• Jamal Crawford, G (story)
  • Replaced Spencer Dinwiddie (coronavirus).
• Donta Hall, F/C (story)
  • Replaced DeAndre Jordan (coronavirus).
• Lance Thomas, F/C (story)
  • Replaced Wilson Chandler (opted out).
• Justin Anderson, F (story)
  • Replaced Michael Beasley (coronavirus).

Dallas Mavericks

• Trey Burke, G (story)
  • Replaced Willie Cauley-Stein (opted out).

Denver Nuggets

• Tyler Cook, F (story)
  • Filled open two-way slot following PJ Dozier‘s promotion to 15-man roster.

Houston Rockets

• Luc Mbah a Moute, F (story)
  • Replaced Thabo Sefolosha (opted out).

Los Angeles Lakers

• J.R. Smith, G (story)
  • Replaced Avery Bradley (opted out).

New Orleans Pelicans

• Sindarius Thornwell, G (story)
  • Replaced Josh Gray (believed to be coronavirus).

Oklahoma City Thunder

• Devon Hall, G (story)
  • Filled open two-way slot following Luguentz Dort‘s promotion to 15-man roster.

Philadelphia 76ers

• Ryan Broekhoff, G (story)
  • Filled open two-way slot.

Portland Trail Blazers

• Jaylen Adams, G (story)
  • Replaced Trevor Ariza (opted out).

Washington Wizards

• Jerian Grant, G (story)
  • Replaced Davis Bertans (opted out).
• Jarrod Uthoff, F (story)
  • Replaced Gary Payton II (coronavirus).
    

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.