NBA teams have until Monday night (Oct. 23) to officially set their rosters for the 2023/24 regular season. However, a majority of NBA teams will likely have their rosters ready to go on Saturday, with far more roster cuts expected today and tomorrow than on Sunday or Monday.
Why is that? Well, releasing a player on Saturday will ensure he clears waivers on Monday, before the regular season gets underway.
Players who are cut during the season are also paid for each day they spend on waivers, so a player who hits waivers on Sunday and doesn’t clear until the first day of the season on Tuesday would technically earn one day’s worth of pay, even if his contract isn’t guaranteed. A player released on Monday would spend two regular season days on waivers.
For players with partial or full guarantees, spending the first day or two of the regular season on waivers doesn’t really matter, since they’re getting their full 2023/24 salary (or their partial guarantees) no matter when they’re released. But if a team waits until Monday to cut a player with a non-guaranteed salary, that team will be on the hook for two days’ worth of dead money for the player.
Two days’ worth of dead money won’t exactly break the bank — it would range from about $13-37K for a minimum-salary player. Still, most teams already know which players are in and which are out, so there’s no need to take the decision down to the wire on Monday. They’ll make those cuts on Friday or Saturday and will avoid adding extra cap charges to their books for ’23/24. Even that small amount of savings could be important for teams who are right around the tax line or up against a hard cap.
While many teams will make their cuts on Saturday, a handful of clubs can afford to wait an extra day or two if they want to, since they’ll be waiving (or trading) players who have full or partial guarantees.
The Wizards, for instance, have 17 players on fully guaranteed contracts and will need to reduce that number to 15. Waiting until Sunday or Monday to make their cuts won’t affect their cap outlook at all, since all 17 of those players will receive their full-season salaries either way.
Additionally, teams whose final roster moves won’t involve placing a player on waivers can afford to wait until Monday to finalize those moves.
For example, the Spurs currently have 15 players on guaranteed standard contracts, a pair on two-way contracts, and Charles Bediako on an Exhibit 10 deal. While we don’t know exactly what the team’s plan is, San Antonio could simply convert Bediako to a two-way contract on Monday in order to set its roster for the regular season, with no further cuts required.
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