Guaranteed vs. non-guaranteed salary

Guaranteed salary is money a player gets paid no matter what, even if he is cut. Money that is non-guaranteed is the opposite: waive him before a set date and the team owes nothing, which is why those deadlines drive so many roster moves.

Plenty of contracts sit in between, with a partial guarantee that pays out only some of the money if the player is released. The more guaranteed the deal, the more it ties the team's hands.