NBA:Waivers
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To remove a player you put him on waivers, and every other team has 48 hours to claim him.
The sequence
1. Post the waiver.
2. Immediately, on posting:
| Effect | |
|---|---|
| Roster spot | Frees in full |
| Cap | 60% frees. The 40% hit is assumed from this moment |
Neither waits out the 48 hours.
3. The 48-hour claim period runs. Any team may claim him during it.
4a. Claimed — the moment a team claims him, the 40% hit comes off your cap and you owe nothing; you do not wait for the claim period to end. He joins the claiming team, with his contract, when the period ends. Until then no team carries his salary. If more than one team claims him, priority decides who gets him.
4b. Unclaimed — when the period ends, he is released into the free agent pool and your cap hit stands.
TAB confirms the move.
What it costs
40% of salary, per year, through your last guaranteed year.
| Salary | Hit per year |
|---|---|
| $495,000 | $198,000 |
| $1,420,400 | $568,160 |
| $10,100,000 | $4,040,000 |
Which years
A year is guaranteed if it is on his original contract or is an option you have exercised. The hit runs through your last guaranteed year, stopping at the first undecided option.
So a hit always covers at least the current season, and because options are exercised one season at a time, a player on year-by-year options is only ever one year of exposure — however many option years his contract shows.
Anchored to the 2026-2027 season:
| Contract | Guaranteed through | Hit |
|---|---|---|
$495,000 (2025, ~2029x) — 2027x exercised
|
2027 | $198,000 (2027) |
$1,420,400 (2028, 2029x) — 2029x not exercised
|
2028 | $568,160 (2028) |
$10,100,000 (2028) — no options
|
2028 | $4,040,000 (2028) |
Exceptions
| Case | Effect |
|---|---|
| Draft-and-stash player waived before he comes over | One-year hit — his contract has no end date to calculate against. Once he has arrived, the normal rule applies |
| Re-signed player | Normal hit, and the re-sign tag stays spent until the contract would have expired |
Waiver priority
Priority settles contested claims.
| Period | Order |
|---|---|
| Through week 4 | Reverse of last season's final standings |
| After week 4 | Reverse of the current season's standings |
Last season's order means the standings themselves, not the lottery-adjusted draft order.
Conditional waivers
A conditional waiver is one you make because a signing or trade needed the roster spot. Post it after that move goes through — waiving first for a bid you then lose leaves you a cap hit for nothing.
Bidding while at roster capacity, you state how you will create the spot — that declaration is what makes the bid valid. The move you named is the one you must honor.
Automatic waivers
Above 15 active players in-season, your most recently acquired player goes on waivers by default — you do not choose who.
How to post
Create a topic in the NBA: Waiver System forum named for the player, stating:
- the player's name, salary, and contract length
- the cap hit and through which year, if he is unclaimed
Sonics waive Jeff Malone (WAS - SG) $4,000,000 (2027) Will take a cap hit of $1,600,000 (2027) if unclaimed.
The year is your last guaranteed year, not the last year printed on his original contract:
Sonics waive Mark Eaton (UTA - C) $495,000 (2025, ~2029x) Will take a cap hit of $198,000 (2027) if unclaimed.
Then update your roster post — the player comes off, and if he clears, the hit goes in your Cap Hits section.
See also
- Salary Cap — the cap and calculating your cap space
- Rosters — roster counts and posting your cap hits
- Contracts — reading salary and option years
- Free Agency — bidding with space freed by a waiver
- Re-Signing — why waiving does not return a tag