The content gods giveth and the content gods taketh away. And this time, they barely let us unwrap the gift.
In a move that could only happen in the basketball purgatory that is early September, the Phoenix Suns have waived Alex Schumacher…less than 24 hours after officially signing him to an Exhibit 10 deal.
It’s not as wild as it sounds. The Suns already held Schumacher’s G League rights, since he wrapped last season with the Valley Suns. This Exhibit 10 was more of a handshake agreement than a roster-shaking
transaction. It is a way to give him a chance at a bonus check stacked on top of his G League salary when he returns to the Valley this fall.
So why go through the charade? Because that’s how the NBA machine works. Sign him, waive him, bonus still secured, everybody happy. It’s transactional theater. The kind of procedural roster shuffling that makes September basketball feel like a Kafka short story.
No, the Suns didn’t slip him a secret duffel bag or sign him to a deal with Aspiration. They signed him, they waived him, and the paper trail keeps him in the program while putting a few extra dollars in his pocket.
Ah, the preseason hustle. It’s a reminder that even in the quietest moments of the NBA calendar, the gears never stop turning.
