What is an Exhibit 10 contract and why did the Utah Jazz just use one?

The Utah Jazz have just signed Romeo Langford to an Exhibit 10 contract but what is it?

The Utah Jazz have signed Romeo Langford, a former Boston Celtics lottery pick in 2019, to an Exhibit 10 contract. Langford, 23 years old, is a guard with decent size but an iffy three-point shot. It’s the lack of consistency from three that has led the Celtics and most recently the San Antonio Spurs to move on from him.

The Jazz, however, are giving him a shot by signing him to the Exhibit 10 contract. But what is that, and why did the Jazz bring Langford in?

Well, the Exhibit 10 contract allows teams to sign players to a non-guaranteed contract, worth the minimum salary. Should the player under the contract do well in the offseason and preseason, the team can then switch it to a two-way contract. A two-way contract allows an NBA team the ability to send players from the G-League to the NBA and vice versa as often as needed.

NBA teams can carry three two-way contracts on their team per year, and the Jazz already have three in Johnny Juzang, Micah Potter, and Joey Hauser. So the only way Langford can earn a two-way contract is if one of those three ends up getting cut or traded.

Now, Langford doesn’t need to earn a two-way contract specifically, which would have to be converted before the start of the regular season. No, Langford could just be kept on the Exhibit 10 deal when the regular season starts, assuming there’s room on the roster for him, and that deal will essentially become a standard minimum deal.

But the Jazz are already carrying 15 players, so why is Langford being kept around? Well, it appears as though the Jazz want to send Langford to the NBA G-League, and this deal will help them do so.

Langford will likely be waived, but assuming Utah designates him affiliate player, they’ll keep his G-League rights. This would give Langford the opportunity to make a bonus of $75k assuming he stays with the Jazz’s G-League team, the Salt Lake City Stars, for at least 60 days.

If he hits 60 days, he gets $75k. This is more than he’d make in most foreign leagues, so it gives Langford the incentive to stick around with the team’s G-League affiliate, and maybe get called up to the NBA squad in due time depending on injuries and other moves.

The Jazz now have three players under the Exhibit 10 contracts, with Langford, and newly signed players Taevion Kinsey, and Nick Ongenda.

The Jazz have 18 players under contract, with three on two-way contracts (Juzang, Houser, and Potter) and another three players with partially guaranteed deals (Kris Dunn, Luka Samanic, and Omer Yurtseven). So there is room for movement and a lot of shakeups could happen between now and the start of the regular season.