Second-Round Pick Exception Details For 2025/26

Diving into the Pacers second-round picks: Kam Jones and Taelon Peter

Most Indiana Pacers fans were still shell-shocked by the most tragic moment in the franchise’s history to pay much attention to the 2025 NBA Draft. It didn’t help that Indiana didn’t have a first-round pick, either. And a few days into free agency, the Pacers have added no new players and lost Myles Turner. However, they did add two second-round picks on day two of the NBA Draft. The picks are unsurprisingly a mix of betting on upside with flaws…

Second-Round Pick Exception Details For 2025/26

As we first outlined in 2023 when it was introduced as a new addition to the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, the second-round pick exception allows NBA teams to sign their second-round picks to standard contracts without requiring cap room or another exception (such as the mid-level) to do so. Like the rookie scale exception, the second-round pick exception isn’t limited to a single use. It can be deployed as many times as needed in a giv…