Waiving a guaranteed contract puts a price on the empty chair at the end of an NBA bench. During the last preseason scrimmage, a coach can judge players by their footwork, their decisions, their response to a shouted coverage. Upstairs, the general manager faces another question: what will choosing the better fit actually cost?
Phoenix confronted that problem in October 2023. The Suns cut Keon Johnson to reach 15 standard contracts, keeping Bol Bol on their opening roster, according to Arizona Sports. Johnson’s salary did not leave with him. SalarySwish records a $2,808,720 dead cap charge for Phoenix that season.
That was the price of making the roster fit. Someone else would wear the uniform; Johnson’s money would remain on the books.
A guarantee protects a player’s pay, not his place in the rotation. The math behind waiving a guaranteed contract begins with that uncomfortable distinction: what does the team gain by paying someone who no longer plays for it?
The Basketball Decision Comes First
Johnson’s departure offers a recognizable preseason story without inventing a showdown in practice. Phoenix had more standard contracts than opening-night places. Someone had to leave.
Brooklyn’s subsequent signing announcement supplies the basketball record: Johnson averaged 4.6 points in 13.7 minutes across five Suns preseason games. Phoenix waived him October 23, and the Nets announced his two-way deal November 1. Those numbers describe his audition without explaining every factor behind the cut.
By retaining Bol, Phoenix preserved a different kind of option: a towering frontcourt player rather than another young guard. That distinction matters when waiving a guaranteed contract. Coaches need combinations of skills, not simply a ranking of everyone in camp.
Johnson’s route to minutes depended on more than his performance. The Suns had to decide which positions needed insurance and which players offered something their established rotation lacked. Keeping Bol preserved a frontcourt possibility. Releasing Johnson removed a backcourt option.
The general manager must assess that fit without letting the original investment choose the roster. Keeping a player because someone committed millions to him does not recover the money. It keeps the spot occupied.
Nor does releasing him establish that the retained player will succeed. Phoenix made a roster choice, not a permanent judgment on Johnson’s career.
Johnson’s Salary Stayed Behind
Phoenix could remove Johnson from the depth chart. His guaranteed pay presented a separate problem.
The league’s salary cap framework separates those obligations. Teams ordinarily can carry 15 standard contracts plus three two-way contracts. Their cap calculation also includes money still owed to waived players.
That explains the apparent absurdity of waiving a guaranteed contract. The coach gains an opening while the owner retains an expense.
For Johnson, the arithmetic needs no invented salary. Phoenix’s recorded charge remained $2,808,720 after the cut. Keeping him would have preserved his services alongside that commitment. Letting him go surrendered those services without eliminating the charge.
Bol already had a contract, so Phoenix’s decision did not itself require a new signing. The Suns paid for both players while carrying only one of them on their opening roster.
Had Phoenix subsequently filled an available standard-contract spot with another signing, that player’s applicable charge would have added to the books. Johnson’s dead money would not have become a credit toward the newcomer.
Waiving a guaranteed contract therefore can improve the roster without reducing payroll. Executives must calculate the completed team before promising luxury tax savings or greater freedom beneath an apron.
The owner needs the full number. So does the coach asking for help.
Deng’s Exit Turned on a Single Date
For the Lakers, Luol Deng became an expensive reminder of a signing that no longer matched their plans.
The Ringer reported that Deng played just 13 minutes during the 2017–18 season, all in the opener. His contract still carried $36.8 million over two years when the sides reached their September 2018 buyout. Deng surrendered $7.5 million to secure his exit.
The basketball relationship had effectively ended. The financial relationship had years remaining.
Deng wanted another chance to play. Los Angeles wanted room to build around LeBron James. Their agreement settled how much money he would surrender; September 1 determined where the remaining charges would land.
Why September Changed the Lakers’ Books
The Lakers retained roughly $14.3 million on their 2018–19 books after the buyout, according to The Ringer’s contemporary breakdown. They spread Deng’s remaining final-season charge across 2019–20 through 2021–22 at approximately $5 million annually.
Why leave such a large charge in the first season?
The Lakers were targeting room the following summer. Waiting until September kept the current season outside the stretch calculation and allowed them to spread only the future obligation.
That timing principle remains central to the collective bargaining agreement’s stretch provision. An eligible July-through-August election can include the current season. From September through June, the current charge stays in place while eligible future salary can stretch.
The formula uses twice the remaining contract seasons, plus one. For Deng’s single future season, that meant three subsequent seasons of charges.
The Summer Alternative Would Have Cost More Later
Deng’s actual buyout left roughly $29.3 million after his concession. As an illustrative alternative, assume the same reduction and an eligible summer stretch covering both remaining seasons. The formula would have spread that amount across five seasons at approximately $5.86 million annually.
That did not happen. It shows what the date changed.
A summer stretch would have lowered the immediate charge substantially. The September approach left more on the Lakers’ current books while producing smaller charges in the following three seasons and ending the burden sooner.
Those figures describe cap accounting, not necessarily Deng’s cash payment schedule. Waiving a guaranteed contract changed the Lakers’ spending options without erasing their obligation.
Stretching also has limits. League rules restrict elections that would push future waived-player charges above 15% of the cap in effect when the team makes the election. The accumulated bills eventually constrain the next decision.
The Player Helps Determine the Exit Price
Deng’s concession mattered because the Lakers could not simply choose to pay him less. He had to agree.
That negotiation gives waiving a guaranteed contract a human dimension beyond the accounting. A veteran weighs protected money against another opportunity to earn minutes. His agent must evaluate both, particularly when the next team offers interest rather than a firm commitment.
Johnson’s move to Brooklyn followed a different route. The Nets signed him to a new two-way agreement after Phoenix released him. They did not take over his Suns contract.
Under league waiver rules, teams have 48 hours to claim a player. A claiming team assumes his existing contract; signing him after he clears creates a new agreement.
The distinction can determine whether the original team escapes the remaining obligation. Another franchise might want the player at a lower price without wanting his current deal.
Teams also retain potential set-off rights. Qualifying basketball earnings elsewhere generally reduce the old obligation by half the amount above the applicable minimum-salary baseline. A subsequent signing does not erase the original salary dollar for dollar.
For the player, financial protection and uncertainty can arrive together. His pay may survive while his role disappears.
The Replacement Must Earn the Decision
By opening night, the coach needs an answer that works on the floor. A reserve must recognize the coverage, finish a defensive possession, or keep the offense moving while a starter rests.
The general manager needs an answer that lasts longer.
Waiving a guaranteed contract makes sense when the team can identify what it gains and accept the full cost of securing it. Immediate rotation help, a developmental opportunity, and future spending room each demand a different standard of proof.
One preseason shooting streak offers little protection against a poor evaluation. A clear role, supported by repeatable skills, gives the decision firmer ground. The retained player should solve a problem the coach actually faces.
Executives must also weigh what they lose. An experienced reserve could provide insurance against an injury. A trade might remove the salary but require a draft pick the franchise would rather keep. Stretching could help now while narrowing choices several summers later.
Deng’s exit and Johnson’s cut show different versions of that judgment. Los Angeles rearranged a substantial commitment around future plans. Phoenix accepted dead salary to settle its opening roster.
Neither move made the original money irrelevant. Both required someone to decide what mattered more from that point forward.
The empty chair carries a cost. When the player the team kept rises from the bench, can he give it something worth paying that cost?
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FAQs
Do NBA players still get paid after teams waive them?
Teams generally still owe guaranteed salary after waiving a player. A buyout, waiver claim, or qualifying earnings elsewhere can change that obligation.
Does waiving a guaranteed contract create salary cap space?
It opens a roster spot, but guaranteed salary can remain on the books. Cutting a player does not automatically create cap space.
Can NBA teams stretch a guaranteed contract in October?
Teams can stretch eligible future salary in October, but the current season’s cap charge stays in place.
How long does an NBA player stay on waivers?
Teams have 48 hours to claim a player. A claiming team takes over his existing contract.
Why did the Lakers wait until September to waive Luol Deng?
Waiting kept Deng’s current-season charge outside the stretch calculation. The Lakers spread his final-season charge across three later seasons to create room the following summer.
