Signed by an NBA team.
Waived less than 24 hours later.
On the surface, it sounds brutal.
But a remarkable sequence of Charlotte Hornets transactions has provided a perfect example of one of the NBA's lesser-known roster mechanisms: the Exhibit 10 contract.
Kyle Mangas was signed by Charlotte and waived the following day.
Jarkel Joiner replaced him on an Exhibit 10 contract, only to be waived himself a day later as the Hornets signed Kobe Stewart.
So what is actually happening?
And are players really being given an NBA opportunity only to have it taken away almost immediately?
The answer is more complicated than the transaction wire makes it appear.
What Is an Exhibit 10 Contract?
An Exhibit 10 is an attachment that can be added to a one-year NBA contract.
It gives an NBA team flexibility while also creating a potential financial incentive for the player to join that organisation's G League affiliate if he is waived.
An Exhibit 10 contract can also be converted into a two-way contract before the beginning of the regular season.
That makes it particularly useful for teams evaluating players around training camp or building the roster of their G League affiliate.
The important part is that being waived does not necessarily mean the original plan has failed.
Sometimes, being waived is part of the plan.
Why Would a Player Agree to This?
Because there can still be something valuable waiting on the other side.
If a player with an Exhibit 10 is waived before the regular season and subsequently joins the team's G League affiliate, he can become eligible for an additional Exhibit 10 bonus.
To earn that bonus, the player generally has to provide at least 60 consecutive days of service to the affiliate.
There is also another possibility.
Before the regular season begins, the NBA team can convert an eligible Exhibit 10 contract into a two-way deal.
For players trying to establish themselves on the fringes of the NBA, that possibility matters.
They get inside an NBA organisation, work with its coaches and staff and potentially create a route towards a two-way or future NBA opportunity.
Why Sign Someone Just to Waive Them?
This is where the transaction wire can be misleading.
When fans read that a player has "signed with the Charlotte Hornets", it sounds like that player has secured a meaningful place on Charlotte's NBA roster.
That is not necessarily what has happened.
In some cases, an organisation is using an Exhibit 10 contract as part of the process of getting a player into its wider development system.
The NBA contract is real.
So is the waiver.
But the expected destination may always have been the G League.
That helps explain why some of these transactions happen at extraordinary speed.
Charlotte Shows How Quickly It Can Happen
The Hornets have provided a striking example ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Charlotte signed Kyle Mangas before waiving him just one day later.
Mangas was replaced by Jarkel Joiner, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract.
One day later, Joiner was waived too.
Charlotte then signed Kobe Stewart.
Read without context, it looks ruthless: players being hired and discarded almost as quickly as their names can be added to the roster.
In reality, these moves can form part of a broader plan involving the Greensboro Swarm, Charlotte's G League affiliate.
That doesn't make the transactions meaningless.
It means the meaning of "signed" is very different from what most fans understandably assume.
Is It Fair on the Players?
This is where the issue becomes more interesting.
There are genuine advantages for the player.
An Exhibit 10 can provide access to an NBA organisation, additional money through the bonus mechanism, a potential G League role and the possibility of being converted to a two-way contract.
For a player trying to break into the league, those opportunities have real value.
But there is another side to it.
The public language surrounding these transactions can create a completely different impression of what a player has actually achieved.
"Signs with the Hornets" sounds like an NBA breakthrough.
"Waived by the Hornets" the following day sounds like failure.
Neither description necessarily tells the full story.
For the player, that distinction matters.
Fans see a transaction.
The player is living through the uncertainty of trying to build a professional career where contracts can disappear almost immediately and an NBA opportunity may actually mean spending the season in the G League.
The Transaction Doesn't Tell the Whole Story
Exhibit 10 contracts serve a legitimate purpose.
They give NBA teams flexibility, create development pathways and provide fringe players with opportunities that might otherwise not exist.
But the recent Charlotte sequence is a useful reminder that NBA transaction terminology doesn't always mean what it appears to mean.
A player can sign an NBA contract without realistically having secured an NBA roster spot.
And a player can be waived the following day without the organisation necessarily having decided it no longer wants him.
Sometimes the signing, the waiver and the G League assignment are all pieces of the same plan.
So the next time an NBA player is signed on Monday and waived on Tuesday, don't automatically assume something has gone terribly wrong.
His real opportunity may only just be beginning.