NBA:Injured Reserve
| Reference | Contracts · Rosters · Salary Cap · League Spreadsheet |
| Transactions | Waivers · Trades · Options · Re-Signing · Draft · Free Agency · G League · Injured Reserve |
| Timeline | Off-Season · In-Season |
| Governance | League Structure · GM Responsibilities · Rule Changes |
| Tools | Re-Sign Calculator · Free Agency Bid Calculator |
Each team may hold 2 players on Injured Reserve. They are paid in full but do not occupy an active roster spot, so IR is how you cover a long absence without carrying the player against your 12–15.
Using IR is optional. You may leave both spots empty if you prefer.
Eligibility
There is no fixed length of injury required, but a player listed day-to-day is not IR-eligible. Anything more serious than day-to-day is acceptable.
Fantrax will let you move almost any flagged player to IR. The day-to-day exclusion is a league rule on top of what the site permits, so the site allowing a move does not make it legal.
Slots and the cap
| Slots | 2 |
| Counts against your active roster | No |
| Counts against the salary cap | Yes — full salary |
An IR move buys roster flexibility, never cap room. See Rosters.
Activation
A player must be activated within one day of being healthy. This is enforced automatically in Fantrax, so an IR spot cannot be used to park a recovered player.
How to post
Create a topic in the NBA Injured Reserve (IR) forum. State the player and the direction of the move:
Suns place Michael Adams (DEN - PG) $500,000 (2027) on IR
Suns activate Michael Adams (DEN - PG) $500,000 (2027) off IR
Then move him between the active and Injured Reserve sections of your roster post.
See also
- Rosters — the three roster counts and where the IR section goes
- Salary Cap — IR salaries count in full
- G League — the other way to open an active roster spot
- In-Season — weekly lineup obligations