Why NBA Teams Sign Players They Don’t Want

The vast majority of players signed for training camp are signed to contracts without any guaranteed compensation on them.

Not all unguaranteed contracts are the same, however. Some utilize a contract provision called Exhibit 9. Unless you’re an agent, it is a little known device of potentially huge importance.

Exhibit 9 of the Uniform Player Contract is applicable only to those summer contracts fully unguaranteed and for only one season in length. Its purpose is to reduce a team’s liability in event of injury to a player it intended to sign only for training camp.

The operator ‘sole liability’ is vital here. If you’re injured in training camp without an exhibit 9, you’re paid until you are healthy again, unless your contract incorporates exhibit 9, in which case you only get $6,000...