Despite being a rookie, Bryce McGowens the 40th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft has outperformed his "Two-Way" contract and has earned a regular roster spot. McGowens has already appeared in 26 regular season games and has been "Active" for at least 10-15 more which means he's quickly approaching the 50 game mark, the maximum for any player on a two way contract. With McGowens firmly in the rotation with 22 games left to play, Charlotte need to make converting McGowens to a regular roster spot a priority.
The good news is Charlotte have two spare roster spaces, one from waiving Reggie Jackson and another likely being held for he who shall not be named. Converting McGowens won't be an issue, but the devil is in the detail. Unlike players drafted in the 1st round, there is no fixed salary for 2nd round rookies, so McGowens and his agent are able to negotiate on his next deal to reach an agreement.
So What Could His Next Contract Look Like?
Option A) McGowens can have his two-way contract unilaterally converted to a one-year, minimum-salary contract by his team
Option B) McGowens and Charlotte negotiate a longer-term contract with the player in order to avoid having him reach free agency at season’s end.
Due to Charlotte's lack of in season cap space the team can use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to negotiate a deal of up to four years or the bi-annual exception for a two-year deal, both are currently available for Charlotte.
Option B is the likely outcome with option A leaving McGowens as a free agent this off-season, something the Hornets wouldn't want to happen. I expect the Hornets to pursue a longer term deal at a low price, similar to what they gave Jalen McDaniels (4-Years $6 million) after converting him in 2019. However, with the salary cap going up since then and McGowens showing to be further along that McDaniels at the same stage it might be more in the $8-12 million range).
One comparison to offer is the Spurs who recently converted Charles Bassey from a two way to a 4-year £10.5 million deal with non guarantees in years 3 and 4. Locking McGowens into a four year deal with team flexibility on the back end would be the best case scenario for Charlotte. However, McGowens' agent would likely push for a 3 year deal with more guaranteed money in hope of getting his client out in free agency a year earlier, after all he's already spent one year of his career on a two way earning just $508k. However, teams are normally in a stronger position with second round rookies and generally come out of these contract negotiations with team friendly deals.
Overall, it's clear Charlotte will bring McGowens onto the main roster, the question will be how team friendly will the deal be?
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