The Golden State Warriors signed and then waived guards Chance McMillian and Deivon Smith this week, a pair of paper transactions that cleared two spots on the team’s offseason roster before training camp.
Both players had been added on Exhibit 10 contracts, the one-year, non-guaranteed deals NBA teams use to bring extra bodies into camp and lock up G League rights. Those contracts do not create a meaningful salary-cap charge and typically include a bonus if a player is cut and then spends at least 60 days with the club’s affiliate.
The sequence was not a last-minute roster shake-up.
“The Warriors signed Chance McMillian and Deivon Smith to Exhibit 10 contracts before subsequently waiving both players, sources told @ClutchPoints. They will join the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G League,” NBA reporter Brett Siegel posted on X.
Sources indicated the sign-and-waive was the plan from the start.
McMillian, a 6-foot-3 Vallejo native, spent last season with Santa Cruz after going undrafted out of Texas Tech. In 31 G League games he averaged 16.6 points, 4.9 assists and 4.2 rebounds. He shot 44.8 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from 3-point range.
This summer he appeared in nine games across the California Classic and Las Vegas Summer League. He averaged 10.0 points in 16.2 minutes and made 51.4 percent of his 3-pointers. In a Las Vegas semifinal against the Lakers, he went 4 of 4 from deep and scored 14 points.
Smith, a 6-foot guard out of St. John’s, arrived in Santa Cruz last February in a G League trade from the College Park Skyhawks. In nine games with the affiliate he averaged 17.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists in 27.9 minutes and posted two triple-doubles before a right wrist fracture ended his season.
In seven summer-league games in July, Smith averaged 8.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.7 assists in 17.2 minutes. He closed the run with 21 points and nine rebounds off the bench in Golden State’s Summer League finale.
If McMillian and Smith stay with Santa Cruz for 60 days, each is eligible for an Exhibit 10 bonus of up to $91,000 on top of a standard G League salary. NBA teams may carry as many as six Exhibit 10 contracts at a time.
The cuts leave Golden State with two openings on its 21-man offseason roster. Training camp begins Tuesday, Sept. 29, on the campus of BYU-Hawaii and runs through Saturday, Oct. 3. The first preseason game is Oct. 4 against the Los Angeles Clippers in Honolulu. The regular season opens Oct. 21 at the Lakers.
With McMillian and Smith headed back to the G League, the fight for Golden State’s three two-way slots is expected to involve a smaller group that includes LJ Cryer, Malevy Leons, second-round pick Lajae Jones and Gonzaga product Graham Ike. Other Exhibit 10 players such as Nick Boyd and Alex Toohey are also in the mix for camp looks.
The Warriors finished 37-45 last season and missed the playoffs after a play-in loss. The front office has kept flexibility at the edges of the roster while several large contracts approach expiration.
Stephen Curry is due $62.6 million this season on an expiring deal. Jimmy Butler is owed $56.8 million, and Draymond Green is on a one-year, $27.7 million contract. Combined, those three salaries alone exceed $147 million. Team payroll figures for 2026-27 have been listed in the $220 million to $230 million range, well above the $165.0 million salary cap and the $200.4 million luxury-tax line.
The club is carrying roughly $100 million in expiring contracts and that the front office has been open about using that flexibility. Churn at the end of the roster is part of how that flexibility is managed.
Neither waiver changes the core. Butler is still working back from a torn ACL and is expected to be limited when camp opens. Moses Moody is also coming off a season-ending injury. Those absences leave Golden State thin on the wing and increase the value of any two-way or G League player who can earn a call-up.
For McMillian and Smith, the next step is another full season in Santa Cruz. Both already know the staff, the system and the commute up the coast. Strong play there can still produce a two-way conversion or a 10-day contract once the regular season starts.
The moves are small on paper. They do, however, tidy the camp roster 12 days before the team flies to Hawaii and set the G League affiliate up with two familiar guards who produced at a high level last winter.
