Hoops Rumors Originals News & Rumors

As we outline in a Hoops Rumors glossary entry, the NBA’s player participation policy – instituted in 2023 – is designed to reduce instances of teams resting healthy players during the regular season.

The player participation policy is focused almost exclusively on players considered “stars” and includes rules prohibiting those stars from sitting out NBA Cup games or nationally televised games without an approved reason (including a legitimate injury).

A team can also run afoul of the policy if it rests more than one star in the same game, repeatedly rests a star in road games instead of home games, or shuts down a star for an extended period of time. The Cavaliers were hit with a fine on Tuesday for violating the policy on November 12, when they rested two stars – Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley – in the same game.

For the purposes of the policy, the league defines a “star” as a player who has been named to an All-Star or All-NBA team at least once during the prior three seasons, which is why both Mitchell and Mobley qualified.

A player who earned an All-Star or All-NBA berth in 2023, 2024, and/or 2025 would be considered a “star” during the 2025/26 season and would be subject to the restrictions of the player participation policy.

Here’s the full list of the players who meet that criteria:

1. Trae Young (Hawks)
2. Jaylen Brown (Celtics)
3. Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
4. Darius Garland (Cavaliers)
5. Donovan Mitchell (Cavaliers)
6. Evan Mobley (Cavaliers)
7. Anthony Davis (Mavericks)
8. Kyrie Irving (Mavericks)
9. Nikola Jokic (Nuggets)
10. Cade Cunningham (Pistons)
11. Jimmy Butler (Warriors) *
12. Stephen Curry (Warriors) *
13. Kevin Durant (Rockets) *
14. Alperen Sengun (Rockets)
15. Tyrese Haliburton (Pacers)
16. Pascal Siakam (Pacers)
17. James Harden (Clippers) *
18. Kawhi Leonard (Clippers)
19. Luka Doncic (Lakers)
20. LeBron James (Lakers) *
21. Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies)
22. Ja Morant (Grizzlies)
23. Bam Adebayo (Heat)
24. Tyler Herro (Heat)
25. Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks)
26. Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves)
27. Julius Randle (Timberwolves)
28. Zion Williamson (Pelicans)
29. Jalen Brunson (Knicks)
30. Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks)
31. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder)
32. Jalen Williams (Thunder)
33. Paolo Banchero (Magic)
34. Joel Embiid (Sixers)
35. Paul George (Sixers) *
36. Tyrese Maxey (Sixers)
37. Devin Booker (Suns)
38. Jrue Holiday (Trail Blazers) *
39. Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) *
40. DeMar DeRozan (Kings) *
41. Domantas Sabonis (Kings)
42. De’Aaron Fox (Spurs)
43. Victor Wembanyama (Spurs)
44. Scottie Barnes (Raptors)
45. Lauri Markkanen (Jazz)

Note: The players marked with an asterisk (*) were either 35 years old on opening night or have accumulated 34,000+ career regular minutes or 1,000 career regular season and playoff games, making them eligible for pre-approved rest nights during back-to-back sets.

A total of 17 teams have multiple players considered “stars” for the purposes of the player participation policy in 2025/26, while just four clubs (the Nets, Hornets, Bulls, and Wizards) don’t have a single player affected.

This group of players could grow following the 2026 All-Star Game. A player who isn’t one of 45 currently listed above would have his name added if he’s selected as an All-Star this season. He would be subject to player participation policy restrictions for games played after All-Star weekend.

When a player signs a two-way contract before the regular season begins, he’s eligible to be active for a maximum of 50 NBA games that season. In order to exceed 50 active games, that player must be promoted from his two-way contract to a spot on the standard roster.

While that 50-game limit applies to a player who is under contract for an entire season, the limit looks a little different for a player who signs a two-way deal after the season begins. That player is eligible to be active for a prorated portion of the maximum 50 games, depending on how many days are left in the regular season.

Let’s consider the case of Jahmai Mashack, who signed a two-way deal with the Grizzlies on Sunday. November 16 is the 27th day of the 174-day regular season, which means the contract will cover 148 days. In order to determine Mashack’s active game limit, we would divide 148 by 174, then multiple that result by 50. That comes to about 42.53, which is rounded to the nearest whole number. So Mashack could be active for up to 43 regular season games.

Rather than doing that math every time a player signs a two-way contract during the 2025/26 season, we’re providing this reference chart. It can be used for the rest of the season to determine how many active games a two-way player will have available, based on when exactly he signs.

March 4 is the deadline for teams to sign a player to a two-way contract.

It’s worth noting that while each two-way player has his own individual active game limit, a team that is carrying fewer than 15 players on its standard roster doesn’t have the ability to take advantage of that full limit for each of its two-way players. A team in that situation is restricted to 90 total active games for its two-way players until it adds a 15th man.

You can learn more about active game limits and all the other rules related to two-way contracts in our glossary.

The term “poison pill” doesn’t actually show up in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, but it’s used colloquially to refer to a provision in the CBA that affects players who recently signed rookie scale contract extensions.

As we explain in our glossary entry, the so-called poison pill provision applies when a player who signed a rookie scale extension is traded before the extension takes effect.

In that scenario, the player’s incoming value for the receiving team for matching purposes is determined by averaging his current-year salary and the salaries in each year of his new extension (including any option years). His current team, on the other hand, simply treats his current-year salary as the outgoing figure for matching purposes.

For instance, Kings forward Keegan Murray is earning a $11,144,093 salary in 2025/26, but signed a five-year, $140MM extension that will begin in ’26/27.

Therefore, if Sacramento wanted to trade Murray this season, his outgoing value for salary-matching purposes would be $11,144,093 (this year’s salary), while his incoming value for the team acquiring him would be $25,190,682 (this year’s salary, plus the $140MM extension, divided by six years).

If a player has signed a maximum-salary rookie scale extension, his future salaries are calculated based on the assumption that the following season’s salary cap will increase by 4.5% and that he won’t achieve the performance criteria for any Rose Rule language included in his deal.

[RELATED: 2025 NBA Rookie Scale Extension Recap]

Most of the players who signed rookie scale extensions aren’t realistic candidates to be traded anytime soon. But even in the event that a team does want to look into trading one of these recently extended players, the gap between the player’s incoming trade value and outgoing trade value could make it a real challenge to find a deal that works for both sides — especially if a team is operating in or near tax apron territory.

The “poison pill” provision applies to nine players who signed rookie scale extensions in 2025. Here are those players, along with their outgoing salaries and incoming salaries for trade purposes:

Once the 2026/27 league year begins next July, the poison pill provision will no longer apply to these players. At that time, the player’s ’26/27 salary would represent both his outgoing and incoming value.

Until then, the gap between those outgoing and incoming figures will make it tricky for several of these players to be moved, though it affects some more significantly than others.

The difference of over $33MM between Williams’ incoming and outgoing trade figures, for instance, means there’s essentially no chance he could be dealt to an over-the-cap team in 2025/26 — given that the Thunder have no desire to move Williams, that’ll be a moot point, but it’s still worth noting.

On the other hand, the smaller divide between Jovic’s incoming and outgoing salaries would make a trade involving him a more viable possibility. However, it’s still a significant enough difference to complicate any deal for a Heat team operating right up against the luxury tax line.

At Hoops Rumors, we track virtually every kind of transaction, including free agent signings, trades, contract extensions, and many more. One form of roster move that has become increasingly common in recent years is the two-way conversion, involving a player either being converted from an Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal or from a two-way deal to his team’s standard roster.

We’re going to use the space below to track all of the two-way conversions (either to or from the standard roster) completed in 2025/26.

Exhibit 10 contracts to two-way contracts:

When a player signs a contract during the offseason that includes Exhibit 10 language, he gives his new team the ability to unilaterally convert his deal into a two-way contract. The deadline to convert such a deal is the day before the season begins — this year that was Monday, October 20.

A player who signs a training camp contract that doesn’t include Exhibit 10 language could still sign a two-way deal with his club as long as his camp contract doesn’t include a guarantee exceeding $85,300. However, he’d have to clear waivers before inking that new two-way contract.

Here are the players who had their Exhibit 10 contracts converted into two-way deals in 2025/26:

• Colin Castleton (Magic) (story)
• Moussa Cisse (Mavericks) (story)
• Ron Harper Jr. (Celtics) (story)
• Caleb Houstan (Hawks) (story)
• Johnny Juzang (Timberwolves) (story)
• Jahmyl Telfort (Clippers) (story)
• Jahmir Young (Heat) (story)
• Chris Youngblood (Thunder) (story)

These players were invited to training camp on Exhibit 10 contracts and ultimately earned two-way slots based on their performances in camp and the preseason. Some were battling with other camp invitees for an open two-way spot, while others won a spot that wasn’t technically available, forcing their respective teams to waive players who had previously been signed to two-way contracts.

With the exception of Harper, who was promoted to the standard roster on October 16, all of these players were converted from two-ways to standard deals on Oct. 18, which was the date most teams set their rosters for the regular season.

No additional names will be added to this list for the rest of the 2025/26 season, since players can’t be converted to two-way deals after the regular season begins.

Two-way contracts to standard contracts:

A player who is on a two-way contract can have his deal unilaterally converted a one-year, minimum-salary contract by his team (or a two-year, minimum-salary contract if the player’s two-way deal covers two years, though this is rare).

Generally though, the team’s preference is to negotiate a longer-term contract with the player in order to avoid having him reach free agency at season’s end.

When converting a player from a two-way contract to the standard roster, the team can use cap room or the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to negotiate a deal of up to four years; the room exception for a deal up to three years; or the taxpayer mid-level exception, bi-annual exception, or minimum salary exception for a two-year deal.

For any contract that is worth more than the minimum or exceeds the number of years left on the player’s two-way pact, the player must agree to the terms — a team can’t complete that sort of deal unilaterally.

Here are the players who have been converted from two-way deals to standard contracts so far in 2025/26, along with the terms of their new contracts, in chronological order:

• Keaton Wallace (Hawks): One year, minimum salary (story). Partially guaranteed ($318,217). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Players on two-way contracts can be converted to standard deals until the last day of the regular season, so this list will continue to grow until April 12.

When a free agent signs a standard contract with an NBA team, he becomes ineligible to be traded for at least three months. Since this season’s trade deadline will land on February 5, that means a player who signs a new deal with a team anytime after Wednesday, November 5 won’t be eligible to be dealt this season.

That three-month trade restriction also applies to a player who is converted from a two-way contract to a standard deal. So if a player signs as a free agent or is promoted from a two-way deal to a standard roster spot this Thursday, his trade restriction wouldn’t lift until February 6, a day after this season’s deadline has passed.

If no new deals are completed by midnight Eastern on Wednesday, the last signee who will have trade eligibility later this season will likely be Precious Achiuwa, who is expected to sign with the Kings today or tomorrow. If Achiuwa officially signs on Tuesday and is still under contract with Sacramento three months from now, he’d become trade-eligible on February 4, the day before the deadline.

Pacers guard Mac McClung (January 28), Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan (January 23), Hawks guard Keaton Wallace (January 18), and Kings guard Russell Westbrook (January 16) are a few of the other players who would become eligible to be moved in the weeks leading up to the Feb. 5 deadline, assuming they remain under contract until then.

The three-month trade restriction doesn’t apply to players who sign two-way contracts — those players are ineligible to be dealt for just 30 days. Trades involving players on two-way deals are pretty rare, but it’s worth noting that anyone who inks a two-way contract on or before January 6 would still become trade-eligible ahead of this season’s deadline.

We previously shared lists of players who won’t become trade-eligible until December 15 or January 15 after signing new contracts in the offseason. We’ll soon publish one more list detailing which players have special, specific trade eligibility dates — that group will include Achiuwa, McClung, and the rest of the players mentioned above, plus many more, including several who signed offseason contract extensions.

Decisions on rookie scale options for the 2026/27 season were due on Friday — any team that wanted to exercise a third- or fourth-year option on a player for next season was required to do so by October 31.

As is typically the case, a huge majority of those options were picked up. Even for top picks, who are paid higher salaries due to the NBA’s rookie scale, those third- and fourth-year options are relatively team-friendly. So unless a player has fallen well short of his team’s expectations, it generally makes sense to lock in his salary for the following season at this point.

However, not every player with a 2026/27 team option had it exercised by Friday’s deadline. A player who had his option declined will now be on track to reach unrestricted free agency during the summer of 2026, assuming he’s not waived before then. At the end of the season, his team won’t be able to offer him a starting salary that exceeds the value of his declined option.

Listed below are the players who had their options turned down, followed by the players whose options were exercised. If a player had his option picked up, his ’26/27 salary is now guaranteed and he won’t be eligible for free agency until at least 2027.

Declined options:

• Jett Howard, Magic (fourth year, $7,337,938)
• Kobe Bufkin, Nets (fourth year, $6,904,203)
  • Note: Bufkin’s fourth-year option was declined when he was waived by Brooklyn.
• Dariq Whitehead, Nets (fourth year, $5,366,911)
  • Note: Whitehead’s fourth-year option was declined when he was cut by Brooklyn.
• Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Mavericks (fourth year, $5,259,383)
  • Note: Prosper’s fourth-year option was declined when he was waived by Dallas, which used the stretch provision to spread his $3MM cap hit over three seasons.
• Nick Smith Jr., Hornets (fourth year, $4,890,067)
  • Note: Smith’s fourth-year option was declined when he was released by Charlotte.
• Kobe Brown, Clippers (fourth year, $4,792,058)
• Dillon Jones, Wizards (third year, $2,884,440)
  • Note: Jones’ third-year option was declined when he was cut by Washington.

Jones was the only 2024 first-round pick (he was selected 26th overall) who did not have his third-year option picked up. In addition to the six 2023 first-rounders listed above, Jalen Hood-Schifino also had his third- and fourth-year options declined by the Lakers last year. He was subsequently traded to — and released by — the Jazz, and is now on a two-way contract with Philadelphia.

Howard (No. 11 overall in 2023) was the lone former lottery pick whose option was turned down this fall. The 22-year-old wing has yet to carve out a rotation role with Orlando, the team that selected him, and the Magic project to be a tax apron team next season even without Howard’s $7,337,938 salary on their books.

Aside from Howard, Brown is the only other player who remains with the team that declined his option. Similar to Howard, the 25-year-old forward has rarely played for the Clippers over the past two-plus seasons.

None of the declined options were too surprising this year, as the seven players have not been significant NBA contributors to this point in their careers.

The Nets’ decisions to waive Bufkin and Whitehead were motivated by a roster crunch and a desire to stay above the minimum salary floor entering the season — not reaching the floor would have caused Brooklyn to lose its luxury tax distribution, which is projected to be around $12.8MM.

The Mavs, Hornets and Wizards were all facing roster crunches as well. While Charlotte and Washington had plenty of financial wiggle room to eat guaranteed salaries, Dallas needed to use the stretch provision on Prosper to create enough room below its second-apron cap to finalize a veteran’s minimum deal with Dante Exum, who has yet to play this season due to a knee injury.

Prosper and Smith are now on two-way deals with the Grizzlies and Lakers, respectively, after having their fourth-year options declined. Bufkin, Whitehead and Jones are all unrestricted free agents.

Exercised options:

Fourth year:

Note: These players will become eligible for rookie scale extensions in July of 2026. If they’re not extended, they’ll be on track for restricted free agency in 2027.

• Victor Wembanyama, Spurs ($16,868,246)
• Brandon Miller, Hornets ($15,104,626)
• Scoot Henderson, Trail Blazers ($13,585,523)
• Amen Thompson, Rockets ($12,258,609)
• Ausar Thompson, Pistons ($11,117,925)
• Anthony Black, Magic ($10,106,315)
• Bilal Coulibaly, Wizards ($9,240,012)
• Jarace Walker, Pacers ($8,478,541)
  
• Taylor Hendricks, Jazz ($7,805,900)
• Cason Wallace, Thunder ($7,420,806)
  
• Dereck Lively II, Mavericks ($7,239,130)
• Gradey Dick, Raptors ($7,131,510)
• Jordan Hawkins, Pelicans ($7,021,895)
• Keyonte George, Jazz ($6,563,925)
• Jaime Jaquez Jr., Heat ($5,939,141)
  
• Brandin Podziemski, Warriors ($5,679,458)
• Cam Whitmore, Wizards ($5,458,310)
• Noah Clowney, Nets ($5,414,034)
• Kris Murray, Trail Blazers ($5,315,004)
  
• Marcus Sasser, Pistons ($5,198,983)
  
• Ben Sheppard, Pacers ($5,031,668)
• Brice Sensabaugh, Jazz ($4,862,237)
  
• Julian Strawther, Nuggets ($4,826,931)

These 23 players who had their fourth-year options exercised, along with the seven listed in the section above who had their fourth-year options declined, were drafted in the first round in 2023.

Third year:

Note: Teams will have to make fourth-year option decisions for 2026/27 on these players by November 2, 2026.

• Zaccharie Risacher, Hawks ($13,826,040)
• Alex Sarr, Wizards ($12,370,680)
• Reed Sheppard, Rockets ($11,108,880)
• Stephon Castle, Spurs ($10,015,920)
  
• Ron Holland, Pistons ($9,069,600)
• Tidjane Salaun, Hornets ($8,237,880)
• Donovan Clingan, Trail Blazers ($7,519,920)
  
• Rob Dillingham, Timberwolves ($6,889,320)
  
• Zach Edey, Grizzlies ($6,332,760)
  
• Cody Williams, Jazz ($6,015,600)
  
• Matas Buzelis, Bulls ($5,715,360)
• Nikola Topic, Thunder ($5,429,760)
  
• Devin Carter, Kings ($5,158,080)
  
• Bub Carrington, Wizards ($4,900,560)
  
• Kel’el Ware, Heat ($4,654,920)
  
• Jared McCain, Sixers ($4,422,600)
  
• Dalton Knecht, Lakers ($4,201,080)
  
• Tristan Da Silva, Magic ($3,991,200)
• Ja’Kobe Walter, Raptors ($3,811,800)
  
• Jaylon Tyson, Cavaliers ($3,658,560)
• Yves Missi, Pelicans ($3,512,760)
  
• DaRon Holmes, Nuggets ($3,372,120)
• AJ Johnson, Wizards ($3,237,120)
• Kyshawn George, Wizards ($3,108,000)
  
• Pacome Dadiet, Knicks ($2,983,680)
  
• Terrence Shannon Jr., Timberwolves ($2,801,640)
  
• Ryan Dunn, Suns ($2,784,240)
  
• Isaiah Collier, Jazz ($2,763,960)
  
• Baylor Scheierman, Celtics ($2,744,040)

As usual, nearly every player from the 2024 draft class had his third-year option picked up, with 29 of 30 exercised. As noted above, Jones is the only player from 2024’s first round who is now a free agent.

For a team-by-team breakdown of this year’s rookie scale option decisions for the 2026/27 season, along with full stories on each decision, you can check out our tracker.