NBA Exhibit 10 contracts put even a dunk-contest champion through the uncertainty of training camp. By October 2024, Mac McClung had won the NBA’s dunk contest twice. His finishes brought spectators out of their seats. Orlando still had a separate question to answer: could he help its basketball team?
McClung brought more than spectacular dunks to that audition. He had averaged 25.7 points and 6.6 assists during Osceola’s previous G League regular season, earning the league’s MVP award. His preseason numbers looked less dramatic: four points per game across two appearances. On October 19, the Magic converted his contract into a two-way deal.
That decision gave his camp invitation a different outcome from a release and a trip back to the affiliate. For another player, the cut could lead to the most important financial provision in his contract.
Signing an NBA agreement does not necessarily secure an NBA season’s salary. A camp invite can produce attendance pay, a conditional G League bonus, or a chance at a better contract. Each follows different rules.
A Camp Signature Still Leaves a Job to Win
Despite the name, Exhibit 10 is an attachment to an NBA contract. The NBA’s CBA 101 summary describes a one-season agreement at the applicable minimum salary, initially without ordinary salary protection.
The attachment gives the team the option to convert the agreement into a two-way contract before the regular season. It can also include a bonus for a player who gets cut and subsequently meets the requirements with the team’s G League affiliate.
The player has signed with an NBA team. He has not necessarily won a regular-season job.
For the player and his agent, NBA Exhibit 10 contracts involve more than a roster calculation. They must examine the bonus amount, the likely affiliate role, and any competing offers. A camp opportunity with limited playing time may still carry useful financial value. Another invitation might offer a clearer basketball opening but a smaller bonus.
The First Check Comes Before the Final Cut
The first check does not require surviving the final cut.
Under the uniform player contract in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, qualifying players receive $4,500 per week, prorated, for attendance at training camp or exhibition games. The provision allows up to four weeks for veterans and five for first-year players.
Two full qualifying weeks would produce $9,000 before withholding. However, players who already received at least $10,000 in compensation for that NBA season before their required reporting date do not qualify. The agreement also treats camp payments as advances against NBA salary owed under the contract.
Attendance pay and the Exhibit 10 bonus cover different circumstances. One compensates qualifying time in camp. The other depends on what happens after the NBA contract ends.
A player who signs and gets waived almost immediately cannot treat that transaction as several weeks of camp earnings. Actual attendance matters.
The Biggest Payday May Follow the Waiver
For NBA Exhibit 10 contracts, the bonus can change the economics of an entire developmental season.
The 2023 collective bargaining agreement established a maximum bonus of $75,000 for 2023–24, with subsequent ceilings increasing alongside the salary cap. Applying its formula to the NBA’s announced 2026–27 cap produces a maximum of approximately $91,000. That is a calculated ceiling, rather than an amount every invitee receives. Bonuses can start at $5,000.
The base salary comes from a separate agreement. According to the NBPA’s summary of the newer G League labor deal, standard pay reached $45,000 in 2025–26, followed by annual increases of 3%. That schedule produces a $46,350 standard salary for 2026–27.
An illustrative $80,000 bonus would exceed the standard G League salary itself. Add that bonus to a full season’s base pay, and those two components total $126,350 before deductions.
A $20,000 bonus changes the calculation considerably. Under the same assumptions, the total falls to $66,350.
Neither example promises those earnings at signing. Both assume the player receives the full season’s standard salary and satisfies the bonus requirements. They also exclude any separately earned camp compensation.
The words “Exhibit 10” cannot tell an invitee what the season will pay. His particular agreement can.
Sixty Days Stand Between the Cut and the Bonus
The bonus does not arrive simply because the NBA team releases the player.
The normal route requires termination before the NBA regular season, followed by a G League agreement and service with the designated affiliate. As the NBA’s Exhibit 10 explanation specifies, the player must complete 60 consecutive days of service to earn the bonus.
That means service days, rather than 60 games. It also means the destination matters. Playing professional basketball elsewhere for two months does not satisfy the affiliate requirement.
A competing offer can complicate the decision. Under the CBA’s bonus eligibility provisions, signing with another professional team before completing the service period can cost the player his bonus. The agreement includes a specific exception for qualifying interruptions involving the original NBA team.
An agent assessing an overseas offer must compare more than the two advertised salaries. Timing could determine whether the player walks away from money he was close to earning.
A Two-Way Spot Changes the Stakes
McClung’s October 2024 conversion shows another possible outcome for NBA Exhibit 10 contracts. The Magic kept him through a different roster mechanism instead of releasing him to pursue the affiliate bonus.
NBA teams can carry three two-way players in addition to their standard roster. The G League’s official explanation sets two-way salary at half the minimum NBA salary for a player with zero years of service. Players receive that flat salary rather than separate rates for time spent in each league.
Conversion also changes how the original bonus provision works. The NBA’s CBA 101 guide explains that the conditional bonus becomes salary protection equal to the bonus amount. The same protection applies when the team retains the original contract into the regular season.
The player should not add the affiliate bonus to his two-way salary as though both automatically apply.
McClung’s case also offers a useful limit on the storytelling. Orlando’s announcement confirmed his promotion and documented his performance. It did not explain the private reasoning behind the decision.
His G League production gave the team substantial evidence to consider. His dunk titles supplied fame. Neither fact, by itself, reveals why the Magic chose him.
The Same Playbook Can Open Another NBA Door
Returning to the affiliate can preserve some of the work a player completed during camp.
The G League’s official FAQ explains that NBA organizations often use similar systems and terminology across their two teams. A guard can carry familiar play calls into his next practice. Coaches can continue evaluating him within a system they know.
However, an ordinary affiliate player does not belong exclusively to the parent club for NBA purposes. Such players can receive NBA call-ups from other teams. An assigned player under an existing NBA contract occupies a different position: his NBA team retains his services and recall rights.
For a waived camp invitee, the affiliate offers continuity while leaving other NBA opportunities available. Every possession can serve two audiences: the organization developing him and another club looking for help.
After the Cut Comes Another Career Decision
A preseason roster decision answers an immediate question: who stays with the NBA team? It does not settle what everyone else can earn, or where their next useful season will unfold.
NBA Exhibit 10 contracts make those follow-up questions essential. A player needs the actual bonus figure, a realistic understanding of his affiliate role, and a clear account of the service requirements. The largest permitted bonus means little if his agreement offers substantially less. An attractive offer elsewhere deserves scrutiny if accepting it would surrender money already within reach.
Basketball still drives the decision. A guard needs possessions that show whether he can organize an offense. A wing needs chances to defend credible opponents and make shots within a defined role. Those opportunities should enter the comparison alongside salary.
McClung’s 2024 promotion provides one successful example. Another player may finish camp with a release, then earn his bonus while building a stronger case in the G League. The transactions look different, but both can advance a career.
The hardest judgment belongs to the player choosing between them. Familiar coaches and a conditional bonus may justify staying close to an NBA organization. A better offer elsewhere may justify leaving.
When the NBA jersey goes back on the rack, the question becomes concrete: how much will this next opportunity pay, and will it give him the basketball work he needs?
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FAQs
Q1. What is an NBA Exhibit 10 contract?
A. Exhibit 10 attaches to a one-season NBA minimum-salary contract. It can offer a conditional G League bonus and allow a two-way conversion.
Q2. Do NBA training camp invitees get paid?
A. Qualifying players receive $4,500 per week, prorated, for camp or exhibition attendance. Eligibility rules and attendance limits apply.
Q3. How much can an Exhibit 10 bonus pay?
A. For 2026–27, the article calculates a maximum of approximately $91,000. The player’s agreement determines the actual bonus, which can start at $5,000.
Q4. Do players need to play 60 games to earn the bonus?
A. No. The requirement concerns 60 consecutive days of service with the designated G League affiliate, alongside the other eligibility conditions.
Q5. Can an Exhibit 10 contract become a two-way deal?
A. Yes. The team can convert it before the regular season. Conversion replaces the conditional affiliate bonus with salary protection equal to that bonus amount.
