NBA teams gained the ability to sign players to 10-day contracts on January 5, which was 13 days ago. As a result, a few of the first 10-day deals signed this season have already expired.
Of the three players whose 10-day contracts have expired, only one – Joe Wieskamp of the Raptors – has received a second 10-day commitment. His new 10-day deal will run through next Thursday (January 26).
Lakers guard Sterling Brown had his 10-day deal expire on Sunday night and wasn’t re-signed by Los Angeles before the team took the floor on Monday, which is an indication that L.A. is exploring other options for that roster spot. Meyers Leonard and DeMarcus Cousins recently worked out for the Lakers and may be candidates to become the club’s 15th man for at least 10 days.
Spurs big man Gorgui Dieng saw his 10-day contract expire on Tuesday night following the team’s win over Brooklyn. Dieng was only on the court for a total of 74 seconds during his 10-day deal, but he has spent most of the season out of San Antonio’s rotation and the team has seemed happy to keep him around, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he receives another 10-day offer from the Spurs. It may not happen for another day or two though, since Dieng would only be available for four games instead of five if he re-signs before Thursday.
Since teams can only sign a player to two standard 10-day contracts in a season, the Raptors will have to decide next week whether to commit to Wieskamp for the rest of the season or let him walk. I’d guess the team will choose the latter path, at least for now — it wouldn’t make sense for Toronto to compromise its roster flexibility by filling its 15th spot with a guaranteed contract before the trade deadline arrives.
Brown would only be able to sign one more 10-day contract this season with the Lakers, while Dieng could do the same with the Spurs, though both players are free to sign two 10-day deals with any other team.
Three more 10-day contracts will expire later this week. PJ Dozier‘s deal with the Kings ends after tonight’s game, while Friday will mark the 10th day under contract for both Derrick Favors (with the Hawks) and Saben Lee (Suns).
Dozier has only seen garbage-time action for Sacramento and Favors has yet to take the court for Atlanta, but Lee is playing rotation minutes for an injury-ravaged Phoenix squad. He has averaged 10.0 points and 3.0 assists in 19.0 minutes per game in three appearances with the Suns, making him a strong candidate to spend at least 10 more days with the team beyond Friday.
Be sure to use our 10-day contract tracker and our roster counts page to keep tabs on the active 10-day contracts.
One guy played 74 seconds, a couple more never took the court… What is the reasoning behind signing a guy to this kind of contract if you have no intention of using him in a game? I know it’s not a ton of money by current standards, but still… Is it enough to see a guy on the practice court for ten days for purposes of evaluation?
Teams sign these contracts because they may have some guys banged up and a 10-dayer can take up some minutes. When the real players heal up, the deal expires and they sign another 10-dayer at another position. Rinse and repeat.
Also I believe there’s a bit of signing players just to keep them from other teams.