What must teams use to sign second round draft picks?

To sign second-round draft picks, teams must utilize cap room or exceptions available under the NBA’s salary cap system. Generally, second-round picks do not have guaranteed contracts like first-round picks, but teams still must comply with salary cap regulations when signing them.

The cap room refers to the amount of money a team has available to spend on players after accounting for current contracts and salary cap space. Exceptions, such as mid-level exceptions or bi-annual exceptions, allow teams to exceed the salary cap to sign players. This is particularly useful for second-round picks as their salaries are often lower than those of first-round picks.

The other options do not apply because cash reserves are not typically used for signing contracts in the context of the salary cap, future draft picks relate to trade scenarios rather than signing players, and player trades are a separate mechanism for acquiring talent rather than signing draft picks. Thus, utilizing cap room or exceptions is indeed the correct method for signing second-round draft picks.