You can check out our glossary entry to learn more about two-way contracts, but in short, two-way deals allow NBA teams to carry three extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players generally bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League, but remain under team control and can’t be poached by rival franchises.
As our two-way contract tracker shows, several teams around the NBA currently have at least one two-way opening. Three of those clubs have multiple openings: the defending champion Knicks have all three of their two-way spots available, while the Celtics and Nuggets have two vacancies apiece.
If we assume that Jamarion Sharpe (Clippers), Carson Cooper (Grizzlies) and Rafael Castro (Bucks) eventually sign their reported deals with their respective clubs, then 12 teams have a total of 16 two-way openings. Aside from the Knicks, Celtics and Nuggets, the other nine clubs each have one vacant two-way spot.
Here are the other nine teams:
Some of those 16 spots may be earmarked for unsigned draft picks. A total of 10 players selected in the second round of the 2026 draft have yet to sign their first NBA contracts.
Memphis can’t sign Cooper or No. 32 overall pick Richie Saunders, who’s expected to miss a significant portion of 2026/27 due to a torn ACL, until it makes additional roster moves. The Grizzlies are the only team in the league at the offseason limit of 21 players under contract.
The Knicks (close to the second tax apron), Celtics (close to the luxury tax line) and Nuggets (over the second apron) may be waiting to fill some of their two-way spots to maintain roster and financial flexibility. Two-way contracts are non-guaranteed and don’t count against the salary cap, but those teams could choose to sign some of their unsigned draftees to standard deals due to their financial situations.
There’s typically a good amount of two-way movement in the weeks leading up to the regular season, with players initially signed to Exhibit 10 deals competing amongst each other and the players on two-way contracts for those three roster spots. Mavericks center Moussa Cisse, for example, signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Dallas last year after going undrafted but was promoted to a two-way deal before the 2025/26 regular season began. The 6’11” big man is now on a two-year standard contract with Dallas.
