Contracts with 2 way players

kingsfan1984

Starter
Question: what rights do we have on our 2 way players? Say Gabriel blows up and looks like a steal...do the Kings have any type of special rights on him that prevents another team from signing him away from us? Similar to restricted free agents?
 
Not totally sure but I think the kings have rights for like 1 or 2 years what ever he signed for. The player gets a larger yearly salary for the g league and more for the time spent with the big club.
When it started not very many of the fringe guys like the top ones in g league because if they got called up and stuck the would receive more money without the 2 way.

Not sure if that’s changed this year or not. But from what I believe if you do not sign a two way you can get a call up from any nba team.
 
Question: what rights do we have on our 2 way players? Say Gabriel blows up and looks like a steal...do the Kings have any type of special rights on him that prevents another team from signing him away from us? Similar to restricted free agents?

Players on two-way contracts cannot be poached by other NBA teams. Gabriel and Williams are under contract with the Kings for the duration of their two-way deals. It is possible that those deals are two years long, but I have not heard that, and I don't think we have yet seen a player (on any team) sign a two-year two-way, so I would guess fairly confidently they are both one-year two-way deals.

Two-way players can be traded, just like regular players. I'm not sure on all of the specifics, but I think they are treated just like regular players in a deal. This would create for a bit more complication for two reasons. 1) NBA teams have only two two-way roster slots, so a team would not be able to trade for a two-way player if they already have two (and aren't trading one back) even if they had an otherwise empty roster spot, and 2) Two-way salaries are not written in stone, because they are pro-rated based on a lower, two-way salary when the player is with the G-League team and a higher, NBA-minimum salary when the player is with the NBA team. How the salary of a two-way player is dealt with when salary-matching in a trade is not clear to me. Two-way players actually do not count towards the salary cap, so their value for salary matching may be $0.

The team can convert a two-way contract to a minimum-salary NBA deal at any time (it's not like the player would object!) but of course would need to have a roster spot available. The team and player may also negotiate any other legal NBA deal and the two-way contract would be voided and replaced on signing that. However, note that a player converted from two-way to a regular NBA deal would be subject to a trade restriction, can't be traded for 3 months, so changing a two-deal to a full NBA deal to try to assist in salary matching for a trade is not possible.
 
Players on two-way contracts cannot be poached by other NBA teams. Gabriel and Williams are under contract with the Kings for the duration of their two-way deals. It is possible that those deals are two years long, but I have not heard that, and I don't think we have yet seen a player (on any team) sign a two-year two-way, so I would guess fairly confidently they are both one-year two-way deals.

Two-way players can be traded, just like regular players. I'm not sure on all of the specifics, but I think they are treated just like regular players in a deal. This would create for a bit more complication for two reasons. 1) NBA teams have only two two-way roster slots, so a team would not be able to trade for a two-way player if they already have two (and aren't trading one back) even if they had an otherwise empty roster spot, and 2) Two-way salaries are not written in stone, because they are pro-rated based on a lower, two-way salary when the player is with the G-League team and a higher, NBA-minimum salary when the player is with the NBA team. How the salary of a two-way player is dealt with when salary-matching in a trade is not clear to me. Two-way players actually do not count towards the salary cap, so their value for salary matching may be $0.

The team can convert a two-way contract to a minimum-salary NBA deal at any time (it's not like the player would object!) but of course would need to have a roster spot available. The team and player may also negotiate any other legal NBA deal and the two-way contract would be voided and replaced on signing that. However, note that a player converted from two-way to a regular NBA deal would be subject to a trade restriction, can't be traded for 3 months, so changing a two-deal to a full NBA deal to try to assist in salary matching for a trade is not possible.

Thanks for the post.

What about after the season once the assumed one year 2 way deal expires? Or if player was on one of these NBA minimum deals?

If another team comes along with interest in Gabriel or William's at that point have the same ability to sign them away? Or would kings have some type of bird rights? Or ability to match any offers like restricted FA?
 
Thanks for the post.

What about after the season once the assumed one year 2 way deal expires? Or if player was on one of these NBA minimum deals?

If another team comes along with interest in Gabriel or William's at that point have the same ability to sign them away? Or would kings have some type of bird rights? Or ability to match any offers like restricted FA?

In the offseason, after a two-way deal has expired, the player becomes a free agent. They are eligible for RFA if they were with the NBA team for at least 15 days (which seems to be a lock on these two-way deals so far). The qualifying offer is another two-way (if the player has been with the same NBA team for one year) or a one-year minimum NBA deal (if the player has been with the NBA team for two-three years).

If the two-way deal were converted to a regular NBA contract, then under most circumstances the player would also be eligible for RFA, and the qualifying offer would be 125% of the last contract. The exceptions here would appear to be two. 1) If the player on the two-way had negotiated a four-year NBA deal they would not be eligible for RFA (too many years of NBA service for RFA, but this would be very unusual). 2) If the player on the two-way had converted to a two or three year NBA deal and then qualified for "starter" criteria, the RFA amount would be higher, equal to the RFA amount for the 21st pick in the current fourth-year class.

So there's actually quite a bit of security for the NBA team if they find a diamond in the rough on a two-way deal. RFA is RFA, you have to match whatever the market is willing to pay, but as long as the player spends enough time with the NBA team (which, if you really want to keep them they easily will) then RFA is definitely on the table, and no team can swoop in and steal them before that.
 
In the offseason, after a two-way deal has expired, the player becomes a free agent. They are eligible for RFA if they were with the NBA team for at least 15 days (which seems to be a lock on these two-way deals so far). The qualifying offer is another two-way (if the player has been with the same NBA team for one year) or a one-year minimum NBA deal (if the player has been with the NBA team for two-three years).

If the two-way deal were converted to a regular NBA contract, then under most circumstances the player would also be eligible for RFA, and the qualifying offer would be 125% of the last contract. The exceptions here would appear to be two. 1) If the player on the two-way had negotiated a four-year NBA deal they would not be eligible for RFA (too many years of NBA service for RFA, but this would be very unusual). 2) If the player on the two-way had converted to a two or three year NBA deal and then qualified for "starter" criteria, the RFA amount would be higher, equal to the RFA amount for the 21st pick in the current fourth-year class.

So there's actually quite a bit of security for the NBA team if they find a diamond in the rough on a two-way deal. RFA is RFA, you have to match whatever the market is willing to pay, but as long as the player spends enough time with the NBA team (which, if you really want to keep them they easily will) then RFA is definitely on the table, and no team can swoop in and steal them before that.
Thanks for the explanation.
 
Back
Top