Contracts can be confusing. To help make them easier, we will break down the monetary situation of every player on the Indiana Pacers roster and what to expect going forward. In this edition, we take a look at the guys on two-way contracts: Edmond Sumner and CJ Wilcox.
In the inaugural season of the two-way contract, the Indiana Pacers were borderline pioneers with the way they used the new type of agreement.
They signed Edmond Sumner to a two-year two-way deal using one of the slots. Sumner, the 52nd pick of the 2017 draft, needed quite a bit of time to rehab. Locking him up on a unique two-year deal allowed the team to use their NBA roster spots with an actual contributor while having Sumner be a member of the organization through his rehab and development.
The other two-way contract was used on Alex Poythress, who stepped in ably in many sticky situations for the Indiana Pacers. In late December he proved his value across a few games for the team and got his contract promoted from a two-way to a full NBA contract.
Ben Moore replaced him and received a two-way contract for the rest of the season. He only played nine minutes in total, but he earned some development time practicing with the pros.
Between promoting a player, rehabbing another, and developing a third, the Pacers used the two-way contract in a variety of ways last season.
With the 2018-19 season just around the corner, the Pacers have given their two-way contracts to Edmond Sumner and CJ Wilcox. Going into more detail about two-way contracts can tell us more about the present and future of those two players, both on the court and in their bank account.
What is a two-way contract?
A two-way contract is a new type of deal that was added in the 2017 CBA.
The contract allows players to spend time between both the pros and the G League. The player is permitted to spend 45 days with the professional club – the rest of the time is to be spent in the minors. Those 45 days can be anything – a practice, a game, or a travel day, though it is incredibly rare that two-way players get caught on travel days.
The players get paid a prorated minimum contract value when they are with the pros. They also get $75,000 with the G League team. They can make up to $385,000 on the contract.
Essentially, the deal allows players to get as much time to develop as possible – and at the teams’ discretion. From the team standpoint, the deal is nice too. Two-way players have no cap hit and can be waived at any time with no penalty. They are cheap labor that develops and can contribute, the perfect scenario for a team.
Only players with three or fewer years of NBA experience are eligible to receive this deal. If they outplay it, they can be promoted to an NBA roster at any time, so long as the team has a roster spot to offer.
Could Edmond Sumner or CJ Wilcox get a promotion?
Well, that depends on a lot of things.
Alex Poythress got his promotion last year for two reasons, and they are the main two reasons that a player would get promoted from a two-way deal. One is that he played well and earned a promotion, like in any other job.
But the other reason is the more important one. Even if Poythress deserved a promotion, giving him a full NBA deal costs the Pacers cap space – whereas a two-way deal doesn’t. But Poythress could no longer be on a two-way contract, he made it through all of his 45 days. Thus, the Pacers had to promote him if they wanted to keep him around. If not, they would just lose him for nothing.
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That scenario is the best chance for either of Wilcox or Sumner to get the call-up. If either of them play with/practice with the Pacers for 45 days, the team could decide to sign them for the rest of the season instead of losing them for nothing. They would have to waive a different player to do so, but crazier things have happened.
Wilcox seems like the more likely candidate to earn a promotion. He has NBA experience and plays behind the most injury prone player on the team, Tyreke Evans. If Evans misses an extended amount of time, Wilcox could be called to action to soak up some minutes on the wing in his absence.
Sumner probably won’t get much playing time. He is stuck behind three point guards on the Pacers, and though he played some shooting guard in summer league, he probably isn’t ready to do that on the NBA level. That means it will be uphill sledding for Sumner to get a promotion from his two-way contract.
What does the future hold for these two players, financially?
The answer somewhat depends on the coming season, but we have a pretty clear picture of what is coming for these two guys already.
CJ Wilcox cannot receive another two-way contract after this season – he will have too many years of service. If he shows signs of being a quality end of the bench guy this season, he might stick with another team on a minimum deal going forward. If he shows nothing, especially after two straight two-way contracts, he will almost certainly be out of the league for good.
Edmond Sumner‘s future is a question mark. He only played for two minutes during his entire rookie season, it isn’t known what he can contribute when fully healthy. If he can impact winning basketball, he will have a future in this league. He has crazy athleticism and a decent feel for the game. But we need to see more to know if he is able to be a positive contributor. Perhaps he could snag a minimum deal after his two-way if he performs well this coming season. Who knows. He could even get a qualifying offer after this season or play on the Pacers for another year next year on a two-way. His options are more open than Wilcox’s.
Two-way contracts are complicated for everyone; fans, players, agents, even the team. But they are a useful roster-building tool that helps more young players get a chance in the NBA. Sumner and Wilcox are two of those players. Hopefully, they can help the Indiana Pacers this coming season as they both try to navigate into NBA relevancy on a two-way contract.