Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin’s contract situations
July 8th, 2013
In light of one or both of these two being about to be traded, there exists a new realm of questions about this two unusual, nearly-novel deals. The questions surround what they’re being paid, and what they’re being charged to the salary cap. People don’t know which set of figures to believe, and the confusions stems from the fact that those two questions actually have two different answers. “Salary” and “cap number” are usually assumed to be synonymous with each other on account of the fact that they normally are, with rare exceptions. Occasionally, exceptions can be found in buyout agreements (I believe, though cannot say decisively, that the Blazers were still playing Shawn Kemp up to and including last season), but not with valid contracts. These deals, then, are an exception. And that’s why they need clarifying. Using the Arenas provision, Lin and Asik signed for the most Houston could give them over three years – $25,123,938. The contracts called for them to be paid an even $5 million in 2012/13, $5.225 million in 2013/14, and $14,898,938 in 2014/15. For the purposes of where we’re going, it doesn’t matter how these figure was arrived at, only what they are and where we’re going. The cap number for these contracts calls for that $25,123,938 contract to be split evenly across all three years, i.e. $8,374,646 each season. This is true despite of the actual payment schedule being what it is above. So when someone asks “what are Lin and Asik getting paid?”, the answer could be either, technically. On a literal interpretation of the question, the payment schedule is the right answer. Yet when people ask that, what they really want to know, even if they don’t know there’s a difference, is what is their cap number. That’s the one […]
There IS a difference between “team option” and “unguaranteed”, and it DOES matter
July 3rd, 2013
Several years ago, I wrote a piece called Creative Financing in the NBA, that sought to address and highlight a few quirky salaries and salaries mechanisms handed about that season. In that piece, I also spent a long time addressing the difference between team options and unguaranteed salaries. Often times, unguaranteed salaries are reported in the mainstream press as being team options, even though the two mechanisms are different. And often times, this is fine, because the differences don’t really matter. Not to the casual fan, at least. Nevertheless, differences do exist. Some of the initial post is quoted below that explains these differences: Unguaranteed or partially guaranteed final seasons are becoming quite the trend in the NBA, and they are quickly replacing team options. In fact, there are only 11 team options in the entire league […] There are very few instances in which contracts must be guaranteed. In fact, there are only two; the first year of a signed-and-traded contract, and the first two years of a rookie scale contract (which must be guaranteed for a minimum of 80% of the scale amount). Nothing else has to be guaranteed, but it is self-evident that almost all are. Would you accept an unguaranteed contract as a player? Not without incentive to do so, no. It is self evident why so many contracts are fully guaranteed. Yet the unguaranteed contract fad has its basis in logic. In a lot of cases, unguaranteed contracts function much like team options do. However, there are some significant advantages to doing it in this way, which is why it happens. The differences: 1) Team options have to be decided upon by the final day of the previous season. Seasons change over on July 1st, and thus team options must be decided upon by June […]
Salary Bookkeeping, 2013
July 1st, 2013
July 1st is (the date on which one season ends and the next one begins, and thus June 30th (and the week preceding it) is an important cut-off date for certain transactions. Players with player or early termination options had to decide if they were coming back; the few players with team options awaited an uncertain future; players eligible for QO’s had to see if they got them. All the results are in now, and there follows a list of who did what before July 1st. NB: free agent statuses taken as of April 22nd 2013. The following players opted in: – Charlotte = Ben Gordon – Dallas = Shawn Marion – Detroit = Charlie Villanueva – Golden State = Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and Brandon Rush – L.A. Lakers = Metta World Peace – Memphis = Jerryd Bayless – Miami = Ray Allen, James Jones and Rashard Lewis – Philadelphia = Kwame Brown – San Antonio = Patrick Mills and Boris Diaw – Toronto = Aaron Gray and Linas Kleiza – Utah = Marvin Williams – Washington = Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor The following players opted out: – Brooklyn = C.J. Watson – Cleveland = Marreese Speights – Dallas = O.J. Mayo – Denver = Andre Iguodala – Golden State = Carl Landry – Milwaukee = Monta Ellis – Minnesota = Andrei Kirilenko – New York = J.R. Smith The following players had their 2013/14 team options exercised: – L.A. Lakers = Jodie Meeks – Miami = Mario Chakmers – Milwaukee = Gustavo Ayon – Minnesota = Dante Cunningham The following players had their team options declined: – Houston = Francisco Garcia – Toronto = John Lucas III (No one really gives out team options any more. For an explanation as to why, read the opening of this.) […]
Bulls might waive Nate Robinson to save money (and possibly for another reason, one for which I have no evidence)
December 19th, 2012
K.C. Johnson reports that the Bulls, despite being a number four seed without having their MVP on the court, are sorely tempted to waive Nate Robinson. In one of the most unheralded high quality moves of the summer – unheralded because the dominant Bullsean narrative of the summer was rightly one of cost-cutting and player-dumping – the Bulls were able to sign Robinson to not only a minimum salary contract, but a partially guaranteed one at that. Of the $1,146,337 Nate is owed – an amount which, if he’s kept for the full season, the Bulls will owe only $854,389 of – only $400,000 is guaranteed, becoming fully guaranteed if not waived on or before January 1st [not the 10th, as reported elsewhere]. In an industry where the permanent goal is to sign as good as quality of player as is possible for as cheap of a price as is possible, this is an incredibly good contract. The institutional maligning of Nate as a player that dates back years cannot (or should not) ignore the fact that he’s a hugely talented player who can single handedly turn the outcome of NBA games. And the Bulls should know this, because he’s done that more than once for them this season. The move would be, of course, patently ridiculous. Even if the season was a wash, you don’t waive a most vital contributor to save on what, by NBA standards, is a nominal fee, and by no standard is the season proving to be a wash in the first place. Nate is third on the Bulls in PER, the only man who can consistently create a shot off the dribble in Rose’s absence, arguably the team’s best ball handler, its only creative backcourt player, and one of its best shooters. He’s even […]
Nazr Mohammed and Trade Kickers
December 4th, 2012
Even though he signed a one year minimum salary contract using the Minimum Salary Exception, Nazr Mohammed has a 15% trade kicker in his current contract. Trade kickers in contracts are somewhat rare. They are particularly rare in small contracts, as becomes obvious upon a study of the current trade kickers in the league today: Ray Allen – 15% – $3,090,000 Andrea Bargnani – 5% – $10,000,000 Nic Batum – 15% – $10,825,000 Chris Bosh – 15% – $17,545,000 Jose Calderon – 10% – $10,561,982 Vince Carter – 10% – $3,090,000 Tyson Chandler – lesser of 8% or $500,000 – $13,604,188 Pau Gasol – 15% – $19,000,000 Manu Ginobili – 5% – $14,107,492 Eric Gordon – 15% – $13,668,750 Blake Griffin – 15% – trade kicker is in his extension, beginning next year Udonis Haslem – 15% – $4,060,000 Roy Hibbert – 15% – $13,668,750 LeBron James – 15% – $17,545,000 Amir Johnson – 5% – $6,000,000 DeAndre Jordan – 15% – $10,532,977 Brook Lopez – 15% – $13,668,750 Robin Lopez – 15% – $4,899,293 Shawn Marion – 15% – $8,646,364 O.J. Mayo – 15% – $4,020,000 Mike Miller – 15% – $5,800,000 Nazr Mohammed – 15% – $1,352,181 (cap number of $854,389) Steve Nash – 15% – $8,900,000 Derrick Rose – 15% – $16,402,500 Josh Smith – 15% – $13,200,000 Jason Terry – 7.5% – $5,000,000 Jason Thompson – 5% – $5,250,000 Anderson Varejao – 5% – $8,368,182 Dwyane Wade – 15% – $17,182,000 Deron Williams – 15% – $17,177,795 Metta World Peace – 15% – $7,258,960 Furthermore, many of those trade kickers are in contracts that are already paying the maximum salary to the relevant player. As kickers cannot be used to increase a salary to an amount greater than the max, those kickers are thus pretty much […]
Zach Randolph may or may not be about to get a pay rise
July 19th, 2012
In April 2011, Zach Randolph received a four year, $66 million extension that will pay him through the 2015 season. Notwithstanding the very valid arguments that a man who doesn’t have any athleticism in the first place is going to decline slower than most, and that Memphis have to pay particularly big dollars in order to retain quality their quality players, it is unmistakably a big contract. The contract called for a $15.2 million salary in 2011/12, a $16.5 million salary in 2012/13, a $17.8 million salary in 2013/14, and a $16.5 million salary in 2014/15, which is also a player option year. The vast majority of contracts around the league increase in their every year, yet, aside from a couple of particular instances (contracts signed with either rookie scale exception or the minimum salary exception), this doesn’t have to be the case. Contracts can go up, down, stay flat, or some combination thereof, as freely as the signing parties so choose and if done in accordance with the acceptable parameters. (The maximum increase percentages are the same as the maximum decrease percentages.) Zach’s contract structure makes sense. The Grizzlies, clearly, are trying to reconcile their hefty salary bill in the coming few seasons with the fact that Zach’s play will decline towards the back end of the deal, facts that the staggered contract structure seeks to partially alleviate. However, in doing so, they seem to have accidentally violated a CBA rule. It is important to express at this point that Randolph’s 2014/15 contract is officially listed as a player option year, and not an early termination option. It is often expressed that the two are by and large the same – including repeatedly by this website – and they are. They are both seasons within a contract that only […]
Creative Financing in the NBA, 2011
January 20th, 2012
The only beardless picture of Rashard Lewis I could find. It’s a part of him now. “Creative financing.” A fun term, one that’s actually employed by financiers and accountants, yet one brought into the world of the NBA when it was used, once, in a pre-emptive justification for one of the least creatively financed transactions of a generation. Nevertheless, even if the man who gave reverence to the phrase isn’t the role model for its usage, creative financing does exist in the NBA. Or at least, it did.In amongst the lockout, the protracted negotiations, and the almost complete loss of a season/confidence in the NBA’s product, a new Collective Bargaining Agreement was drawn up that sought to curb spending, introduce more payroll parity, and get the league back into the black. For those of us who enjoy looking at, and looking for, means to creatively manipulate, it was a confusing time. Of course, some teams acted like nothing had happened. Detroit gave $25.5 million to Rodney Stuckey to come back, gave $18 million to Jonas Jerebko to come back, gave $28 million to Tayshaun Prince to come back, and gave $14.5 million to Rip Hamilton to go away, committed as they were to retaining the core of a team that’s gone 57-107 over the last two seasons. Meanwhile, Philadelphia spent only what it cost to re-sign Thaddeus Young and replace Darius Songaila with Nikola Vucevic; hamstrung as they were by incumbent contracts, the team had too little wiggle room to do very much, something which will likely continue to be the case for the final 18 months of the Elton Brand era. Most others, however, recognised the changing environment, and were willing (or able) to adapt accordingly. Perhaps the most prominent example of this is the defending champion, Dallas Mavericks. […]
What Happened Prior to July 1st Other Than A Bunch Of Ultimately Unproductive CBA Negotiations
July 2nd, 2011
Even though a lockout is upon us, one which might last us through until the very end of existence in late 2012, there’s still some bookkeeping to be done. July 1st is (or should be) the date on which one season ends and the next one begins, and thus June 30th is an important cut-off date for certain transactions. Players with player or early termination options had to decide if they were coming back; the few players with team options awaited an uncertain future; players eligible for QO’s had to see if they got them. We also had the added bonus of 2012/13 team options for rookie scale contracts being decided considerably earlier than usual – after all, when the usual end of October deadline comes around, the lockout may still be going on. All the results are in now, however, and there follows a list of who did what before July 1st. The following players opted in: – Boston = Ray Allen – Charlotte = Boris Diaw – Cleveland = Ryan Hollins – Golden State = Charlie Bell and Louis Amundson – L.A. Clippers = Brian Cook – L.A. Lakers = Matt Barnes – Miami = Eddie House and Zydrunas Ilgauskas – New York = Ronny Turiaf – Phoenix = Mickael Pietrus – San Antonio = Tim Duncan – Toronto = Leandro Barbosa The following players opted out: – Denver = Nene – L.A. Lakers = Shannon Brown (who has now completed the rare achievement of doing this in consecutive seasons) – Miami = James Jones – New Orleans = Aaron Gray and David West The following players had their 2011/12 team options exercised: – Houston = Goran Dragic – Memphis = Sam Young – Utah = C.J. Miles The following players had their team options declined: – Sacramento […]
Tax Payers, Trade Kickers, And Other Deadline Day Bookkeeping
February 26th, 2011
He looks happy. And why shouldn’t he. That was one of the most interesting trade deadline weeks you’ll ever see. Fourteen trades, one kind of funny near trade, 50 players traded, 3 players signed, 4 players waived, 16 draft picks traded, 1 rights to swap traded, and two absolute Stone Cold Stunners of trades that no one expected. And these weren’t trades like Sam Cassell and cash for a 2016 top 55 protected second rounder, either. These were trades that changed teams significantly, and altered the landscape of the entire NBA. (Well, except for the Marquis Daniels one.) Superstars Carmelo Anthony and Deron Williams were dispatched from teams they didn’t want to stay with. Shane Battier and Mo Williams were dispatched from teams they didn’t want to leave. Draft busts Brandan Wright and Hasheem Thabeet were shipped for minimal returns; recently drafted rookies Derrick Favors and Jordan Crawford were shipped before even completing a season. And while my T.J. Ford for Dan Gadzuric idea never got done, Gadzuric did move to the New Jersey Nets, where he can grab as many rebounds as Brook Lopez in a third of the minutes. New York and New Jersey made the two biggest moves by acquiring the two All-Stars, Williams and Anthony. The Knicks finally closed the deal on the Anthony saga, their additional acquisition of Chauncey Billups and their retention of Landry Fields keeping the price tag just about on the right of ‘acceptable.’ Meanwhile, the Nets’s genuinely staggering trade for Williams, whilst ultimately a backup plan, turned out to be better then their original plan. If their intention was to chase Melo for half a year, then give up and trade less in a deal for a better, cheaper player with less mileage on the clock, then they pulled it off […]
Finances of the Terrence Williams/Sergei Lishouk trade
December 16th, 2010
The only picture of Joe Smith ever taken in which he is not smiling broadly. Yesterday, a three way trade went down between the L.A. Lakers, Houston Rockets and New Jersey Nets that saw four picks, three players and one set of redundant draft rights get rehomed just in time for Christmas. – Houston dealt: Lottery protected first-round draft pick to New Jersey; draft rights to Sergei Lishouk to L.A.– Houston received: Terrence Williams from New Jersey. – L.A. Lakers dealt: Sasha Vujacic and their 2011 first-round draft pick to New Jersey. – L.A. Lakers received: Joe Smith, New Jersey’s 2011 second-round pick and Chicago’s 2012 second-round pick from New Jersey; the rights to Sergei Lishouk from Houston. – New Jersey dealt: Terrence Williams to Houston; Joe Smith and the two second rounders to L.A.– New Jersey received: Sasha Vujacic and the two first rounders. All teams arguably profit from the move, which is how trades should be. The Lakers saved money, and somehow snagged two second-round picks in the bargain when they probably would still have been quite happy to do the deal without them. Houston gained a player probably better than the one they would have drafted with that pick, and New Jersey freed themselves of a problematic backup while piling on two first-round picks, which they can now either use as trade bait or use to acquire yet more backups. Everyone was a winner, except for Vujacic. Many people have questioned, however, how the move was legal under the terms of the soon-to-be-obliterated Collective Bargaining Agreement. Trade calculations are a confusing process at the best of time, and even more so when talking about three team deals involving mismatched salaries. But because of the inclusion of Smith, the finances just about work. And I do mean just […]
How much centres get paid
October 4th, 2010
Apropos of nothing, here are the total contract values of all centres in the NBA, not including those on minimum salaries (or with really close to minimum salaries, such as Samardo Samuels). In cases where a player’s position is debatable or flexible, discretion is used, and the player’s primary position is used (i.e. Pau Gasol wouldn’t be listed at centre, even though he essentially backs up there, because he starts at power forward). In the case of someone like Al Jefferson – who was paid to be a power forward but who will now be a centre – the latter option is used. Figures are as accurate as I can get them to be, which is very. – Atlanta: Al Horford (rookie scale), Zaza Pachulia (4 years, $19 million) – Boston: Kendrick Perkins (4 years, $18.2 million), Jermaine O’Neal (2 years, $11,991,200) – Charlotte: Nazr Mohammed (5 years, $30.247 million), DeSagana Diop (5 years, $32.393 million) – Chicago: Joakim Noah (rookie scale, for now), Kurt Thomas (1 year, $1,800,000), Omer Asik (2 years, $3,578,500) – Cleveland: Anderson Varejao (6 years, $48,204,545), Ryan Hollins (3 years, $7 million) – Dallas: Tyson Chandler (6 years, $63 million), Brendan Haywood (6 years, $52,267,500), Alexis Ajinca (rookie scale) – Denver: Nene (6 years, $60 million), Chris Andersen (5 years, $21.17 million) – Detroit: Ben Wallace (2 years, $4,326,400), Jason Maxiell (4 years, $20 million), Chris Wilcox (2 years, $6 million) – Golden State: Andris Biedrins (6 years, $54 million), Ekpe Udoh (rookie scale), Dan Gadzuric (6 years, $36,003,975) – Houston: Yao Ming (5 year maximum), Brad Miller (3 years, $14.256 million), Chuck Hayes (4 years, $8,218,500) – Indiana: Roy Hibbert (rookie scale), Jeff Foster (2 years, $12,734,500) – L.A. Clippers: Chris Kaman (5 years, $52 million) – L.A. Lakers: Andrew Bynum (4 years, $57.2 […]
Addendum to the Xavier Henry thing
September 18th, 2010
In the recent Creative Financing In The NBA post, I wrote at great length about the Xavier Henry situation. In the span of about 27,000 words, I tried to explain all the nuances of this largely unprecedented and highly unattractive situation, using as many real-life examples and corollaries as I could find. After that time, far more significant media personalities ran with the story. Starting with NBA.com’s David Aldridge – who ran a very similar piece that even used the same Glenn Robinson-based introduction, but who had the ability to get the quotes that a 20-something English student doesn’t have – and culminating in an explosive interview with Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley on the Chris Vernon Show, the story became one of the most protracted subplots of the offseason, its explosive crescendo at the Vernon interview making for late-summer viewing joy. In between those bookends came this piece from the Commercial Appeal’s Ron Tillery, that details the required incentives in ways we previously could only guess at. The Griz have offered Henry 100 percent of that salary with the extra 20 percent tied to performance-based bonuses. The Grizzlies’ proposed incentive package includes: Participation in summer league. A two-week workout program with the team’s training staff. Satisfying one of the following: play in NBA rookie/sophomore game during All-Star weekend, or earn an all-rookie selection, or average 15 minutes in at least 70 games. Perhaps more pertinent still are these quotes from Henry’s agent, Arn Tellem, in which he describes the move from his point of view. The agent, Arn Tellem, says the Grizzlies are trying to make Henry meet performance bonuses, such as making the rookie challenge at All-Star weekend or being named to one of the all-rookie teams. He says only one player out of more than 450 since the […]
Creative Financing in the NBA, 2010
August 12th, 2010
Last year, I wrote a couple of posts under the heading of “Creative Financing in the NBA.” Inspired by seeing a series of quirky salary techniques that I had not previously seen in my three long and sexless years of compiling NBA salary information, I was inspired to steal Magic GM Otis Smith’s favoured phrase without permission, and use it to describe some of the financial anomalies that the offseason transactions had puked over our spreadsheets. The posts were reasonably successful, drawing in both the 25th and 26th regular viewers to the site; more than anything, however, they were a pleasure to write. Therefore, there follows another post for salary anomalies and trivia from the 2010 NBA offseason, a breakdown of all quirky payroll-related idiosyncrasies and manipulation that took place in front of our very eyes, even if we didn’t really notice it at the time. Note: this will not interest you, unless you are really big on pedantry. (Mind you, that could be said about this entire site.) – One of the first signings announced in this free agency period was that of Amir Johnson, who last year backed up Chris Bosh in Toronto. He played well, being possibly Toronto’s best defender and averaging 6/5 in 17.7 minutes per game with a PER of 16.7. The Raptors re-signed Johnson to a deal worth $30 million in base compensation (not $34 million as was widely reported), with incentives in the deal to potentially boost its value that are currently listed as “unlikely.” Amir’s contract before incentives will pay him $5,000,000 next year, rising by $500,000 annually to a total of $7 million in the fifth and final year. However, that $7 million salary in the final year is only $5 million guaranteed; if Toronto (or whoever owns him at that […]
Changes In 2010/11 Salaries Due To Performance Incentives
July 10th, 2010
The worst part about maintaining the internet’s premier NBA salary information resource is that the information is never static. It is ever-changing. Due to things such as conditional guarantees, trade kickers and the like, rarely do contracts ever stay the same. This is particularly true because of the science of performance incentives. Performance incentives can be included in contracts for almost any reason, including (but not limited to) All-Star selections, championship, or team wins. The only rules are that any numerical definitions are specific, and that they are for positive achievements only (although God knows why you’d want it otherwise). For example, Kirk Hinrich has performance incentives based on any First Team All-Defensive placements that he gets, and Matt Bonner’s just-expired contract was based around his three point and free throw percentages. These incentives are deemed by the league to be either “likely” or “unlikely”. If they are deemed “likely”, then they appear on a team’s cap number for the upcoming season; if they are deemed “unlikely”, then they are not. This is why this information is important to cap space calculations and the like. The likehood of incentives is decided by the league using one simple criterion; whether the player achieved the incentive last year or not. In the case of team-based incentives such as team win totals, this can be changed when a player is traded to a new team; this is perhaps most famously demonstrated by the case of Devean George, whose team win-based incentive went from “likely” to “unlikely” when he was traded from Dallas to Golden State, thereby costing him $200,000. Such is the risk. Cap hits based on performance incentives are modified during the moratorium, due to a re-evaluation of their incentives. (That’s what the moratorium is for – bookkeeping.) Some previously deemed “unlikely” […]
The amount of cap room teams will actually have, updated, again
July 8th, 2010
This is an update of the update of the earlier post that detailed the amount of cap room teams will have. It is updated to reflect everything that happened at the draft, including, in the case of the Kirk Hinrich trade, things that haven’t happened that soon will. More importantly, it is updated to reflect the fact that we now know where the salary cap is going to be; with the calculations all down, the NBA has announced that the salary cap for the 2010/11 season will be higher that expected, coming in at $58,044,000. After all that, it went up from last year. Other than those things, this is a carbon copy of the initial post. In this edition, there are no entries for teams irrelevant to cap space, because I can’t be bothered. If those teams make moves to become relevant, they will get mentioned later. Chicago Bulls Committed salary for 2010/11: $31,850,976 (view full forecast) Projected cap space: $19,420,366 The projected figure is based around the as-yet-uncompleted trade that will send Kirk Hinrich and the #17 pick to Washington, in exchange for pretty much nothing. That trade will leave the Bulls with only five players under contract – Luol Deng, Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, James Johnson, Taj Gibson – with no cap holds from draft picks. If we assume that that move goes down unchanged and that all free agents are renounced, the Bulls salary situation then looks like this; Luol Deng = $11,345,000Derrick Rose = $5,546,160Joakim Noah = $3,128,536James Johnson = $1,713,600Taj Gibson = $1,117,680 Seven roster charges = $473,604 * 7 = $3,788,832. Total = $26,166,204 Cap space to $58.044 million cap = $31,877,796 The Bulls have already agreed to sign Carlos Boozer to a deal reportedly worth $75 million. How they will structure that […]
2010 Free Agency, Preliminary Round
July 1st, 2010
Thank you for your patience as we resolve the issues that have plagued this website in recent days. We’re on top of it now. Sort of. The free agency season is upon us, and a lot of housekeeping had to be done before we could get going. Players with player or early termination options had to decide if they were coming back; the few players with team options awaited an uncertain future; players eligible for QO’s had to see if they got them. All the results are in now, however, and there follows a list of who did what before July 1st. The following players opted in: – Atlanta = Maurice Evans– Charlotte = Tyson Chandler and Nazr Mohammed– Cleveland = Sebastian Telfair– Dallas = DeShawn Stevenson– Denver = Kenyon Martin– Detroit = Chris Wilcox– Golden State = Kelenna Azubuike and Vladimir Radmanovic– Houston = Yao Ming and Jared Jeffries– Indiana = T.J. Ford– Milwaukee = Michael Redd– New Jersey = Kris Humphries– New Orleans = Peja Stojakovic and Darius Songaila– New York = Eddy Curry– Philadelphia = Jason Kapono and Willie Green– Phoenix = Grant Hill– Portland = Joel Przybilla– Washington = Quinton Ross (as a part of his trade to New Jersey) The following players opted out: – Boston = Paul Pierce– Cleveland = LeBron James– Dallas = Dirk Nowitzki– L.A. Lakers = Shannon Brown– Miami = Joel Anthony and Dwyane Wade– Milwaukee = John Salmons– Orlando = Matt Barnes– Phoenix = Channing Frye and Amar’e Stoudemire– San Antonio = Richard Jefferson– Toronto = Chris Bosh The following players had their team options exercised: – Cleveland = Leon Powe– Dallas = Jose Barea– Houston = Chuck Hayes– Miami = Mario Chalmers– New Jersey = Chris Douglas-Roberts (as a part of his trade to Milwaukee) The following players had […]
The amount of cap room teams will actually have, updated
June 19th, 2010
This is an update of the earlier post that detailed the amount of cap room teams will have. It is updated to reflect the Kings/Sixers trade that was just completed (Andres Nocioni and Spencer Hawes for Sam Dalembert), to reflect some exercised options, and to edit the fact that I typoed a bit in the Timberwolves entry. It’s a carbon copy of the initial post, save for those tweaks. Atlanta Hawks Committed salary for 2010/11: $47,630,214 (view full forecast) Projected cap space: None If Atlanta renounce (or lose) Joe Johnson, renounce Josh Childress, renounce their four remaining free agents (Joe Smith, Mario West, Jason Collins and Randolph Morris), and sell or renounce their first-round draft pick (#24, cap hold of $963,600), they will have a cap number of $49,524,640 (the committed salary plus four minimum salary roster charges of $473,604 for having less than 12 things on the cap). Barring trades, that’s as low as they can get. And yet it’s not enough for cap room; if you add on the value of the Bi-Annual Exception ($2.08 million) and the Mid-Level Exception (not yet known exactly, but will be about $5.7 million), the Hawks are over the cap. Boston Celtics Committed salary for 2010/11: $64,423,396 (view full forecast) Projected cap space: None If Paul Pierce opts out, and if he and Ray Allen are both not re-signed, it’s possible for the Celtics to have cap room. But it is too farfetched and nonsensical. Charlotte & Bob Katz Committed salary for 2010/11: $59,789,925 (view full forecast) Projected cap space: None Like Boston, Charlotte could have cap room if both Tyson Chandler and Nazr Mohammed opt out, and if they also renounce Raymond Felton and Tyrus Thomas. But three of these four things will not realistically happen. Strangely, though, the first one […]
The amount of cap room teams will actually have
June 12th, 2010
Lots of people and lots of places are claiming knowledge of the cap space of various NBA team in anticipation of this summer’s free agency bonanza. Most, if not all, have done so misleadingly inaccurately. Without wanting to sound too douchebaggy (sorry), let’s try to get this right. 100% accuracy is not guaranteed, but 99.7% accuracy is. All salary information is taken from this website’s own salary pages. NOTE: All cap space amounts are calculated to an estimated salary cap of $56.1 million. This inexact figure is the most recent (and thus accurate) projection released yet, and will have to suffice for now. When the actual amount is calculated/announced, the sums below will be altered accordingly. Atlanta Hawks Committed salary for 2010/11: $47,630,214 (view full forecast) Projected cap space: None If Atlanta renounce (or lose) Joe Johnson, renounce Josh Childress, renounce their four remaining free agents (Joe Smith, Mario West, Jason Collins and Randolph Morris), and sell or renounce their first-round draft pick (#24, cap hold of $963,600), they will have a cap number of $49,524,640 (the committed salary plus four minimum salary roster charges of $473,604 for having less than 12 things on the cap). Barring trades, that’s as low as they can get. And yet it’s not enough for cap room; if you add on the value of the Bi-Annual Exception ($2.08 million) and the Mid-Level Exception (not yet known exactly, but will be about $5.7 million), the Hawks are over the cap. Boston Celtics Committed salary for 2010/11: $64,423,396 (view full forecast) Projected cap space: None If Paul Pierce opts out, and if he and Ray Allen are both not re-signed, it’s possible for the Celtics to have cap room. But it is too farfetched and nonsensical. Charlotte & Bob Katz Committed salary for 2010/11: $59,789,925 (view […]
Current Trade Kickers
June 11th, 2010
Trade kickers are a salary mechanism that increase a player’s salary when they are traded. They are both important and difficult to accommodate when formulating trade scenarios, and thus it’s useful for them to be known. Kickers – technically known as trade bonuses, but colloquially as kickers, which we’ll stick with here – can only be bothersome to teams and emphatically benefit a player. As such, they’re far from commonplace. But there’s enough of them out there, and it helps to know about them. Contrary to some belief, trade kickers can not be waived. Not recreationally, at least. A player cannot waive a trade kicker just to make their contract look more desirable. Only in one specific circumstance can a trade kicker (or part of one) be waived; when a player has to waive some money to make a particular trade connotation meet the rules of trade finances. This rarely happens, because it obviously requires the player’s permission, although it did happen just this year after Devin Brown vetoed a trade to Minnesota when he refused to waive his. Doesn’t happen much, though. There follows a list of all current NBA contracts that feature trade kickers, along with the value of them. Note that trade kickers have no expiry date other than the expiration of the contract itself, and that having a percentage listed means that’s the percentage of their remaining salary that they will additionally get with the bonus. – Carmelo Anthony (lesser of 5% or $1 million) – Ron Artest (15%) – Andrea Bargnani (5%) – Charlie Bell (15%) – Shannon Brown (15%) – Kobe Bryant (10%) – Jose Calderon (10%) – Eddy Curry (greater of 15% or $5 million) – Sam Dalembert (15%) – Tim Duncan (15%) – Jeff Foster (lesser of 15% or $1 million) – […]
Wesley Matthews’s impending free agency
May 20th, 2010
A while ago, I wrote about Anthony Morrow’s impending free agency, breaking down how much he could sign for and why. If you have not read it, please do so, and I won’t stab this puppy. Morrow’s situation is not unique, for his is a situation that arises every offseason. Lots of players’s first contracts are two-year minimum salary deals, and those who manage to make it to the end of them are usually worthy of new contracts at that time. Others in Morrow’s situation this season include Jawad Williams, Will Bynum, Bobby Brown and Nathan Jawai – I mentioned Morrow specifically only because he is the one deemed most likely to get the largest contract offer this summer, and therefore his is the one that gets asked about most. A similar situation to those of Morrow et al is to be found in the situations of those who signed one-year minimum salary deals, and who will be restricted free agents to a team with only non-Bird rights on them. It’s a situation that will apply this offseason to Mario West, Anthony Tolliver, Chris Hunter, Mustafa Shakur, Patrick Mills, Jon Brockman, Cedric Jackson and Cartier Martin; however, the most intriguing player to whom it applies is free agent Jazz swingman, Wes Matthews, for the simple reason that he’s the most likely of the bunch to command more than the minimum salary. Young players don’t usually sign one-year minimum salary deals. Instead, veterans almost always do, because teams have financial incentive to do so. Teams who sign players with more than two years of experience to one-year minimum salary deals are billed only the amount of a twoyear veteran; for example, when Chicago signed Lindsey Hunter to a one-year minimum salary deal this past offseason, they were billed only $825,497 for […]
Anthony Morrow’s impending free agency
May 10th, 2010
Of all the possible free agents this upcoming offseason, Golden State’s Anthony Morrow is one of the restricted free agents that is garnering the most attention amongst fans. Well, amongst Bulls fans he is, at least.1 Morrow only really does one thing; he shoots jump shots. He is not much of a ball-handler, nor much of a defender, nor much of an athlete, nor much of a slasher, nor much of a finisher around the basket. But he does own a jump shot. A really, really good jump shot. A really, really, really, really good jump shot. A jump shot so good that it spawned its own cult. And in this current NBA era, you can never have too many shooters. If you need a shooter, you could always sign Casey Jacobsen. He’ll need work this summer. You could also sign Desmon Farmer, Billy Thomas, Marcus Vinicius, Nikoloz Tskitishvili, or some old fringe NBA veteran who would happily sign for the minimum and relish the chance to sit on an inactive list. Worst case scenario, you could sign Ryan Ayers. But a lot of people want Morrow, for the simple fact that he has 47% and 46% from three-point range in his two NBA seasons. Can’t say I blame them. I want that too. However, if you wish to sign Anthony Morrow, there’s some things you should know. Morrow went undrafted out of Georgia Tech, and, after hitting some jump shots for the Miami Heat in summer league 2008, the Warriors signed him to a two-year minimum salary contract with conditional guarantees. At the time, they probably didn’t think he’d be a significant player; as it’s turned out, however, he’s been one of the brightest spots in a two-year cycle of struggle. Morrow has performed admirably and shown himself to […]
The Finances Of The Trade Deadline Deals
February 21st, 2010
In the last week, more than 10% of the NBA was rehomed. 17 teams conspired to make 13 trades, and 43 players in the league were traded (along with one that isn’t in it). A possible 14 draft picks changed hands, too, along with enough cash to support Iceland for a week. Three players were waived to accommodate incoming players (Chris Richard, Ricky Davis, Kenny Thomas), and one just wasn’t asked back (Garrett Temple; re-signed since this intro was written). Trades ranged from the hugely significant (Kevin Martin) to the underwhelming (Theo Ratliff). To use a phrase I use way too much, there truly was something for everyone. Unless you’re a Heat fan. (Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes also managed to achieve the dubious honour of being traded at three consecutive trade deadlines, with Gooden compounding his misery by compiling four trades in that time. It also seems reasonably inevitable that Gooden will be bought out by his new team (the L.A. Clippers), making him possibly the first player ever to be salary dumped at the deadline, only to be bought out and sign with a contender, in consecutive seasons. Congratulations, I think.) While I was personally a bit gutted that my Adam Morrison and Memphis’ second rounder for Steven Hunter trade idea did not go down, I was nonetheless stoked about this fine series of events, as I’m sure you were too. Deadline day is second only to draft night in its badassity; there’s something soothingly pathetic/pathetically soothing about cancelling all engagements, sitting indoors and mashing refresh until your eyes catch fire. I know you understand this, or else you wouldn’t be reading this website. As is usual around this time of year, many (if not most) of the completed trades were made primarily with financial motivations. This isn’t […]
Thunder acquire Eric Maynor and Matt Harpring for PETER FEHSE
December 23rd, 2009
I have only 48 things to say about this deal. 1) As his profile suggests, I have long regarded Peter Fehse as a yardstick for a person’s NBA knowledge. If a fan knows who Peter Fehse is, they are hardcore and deserve your respect. Short story short, Peter Fehse is a lanky German with lots of hair, who was drafted in the second round in 2002 as an absolute longshot based on his combination of height and athleticism. He never amounted to anything NBA-calibre, partly because he never had NBA calibre to begin with, but also because of constant injuries. It has been over seven years since Peter Fehse was last heard of in NBA circles; indeed, he’s barely even heard in German basketball circles either. Fehse has not played this season, played in only two games last season, and did not play in 2007/08, all of which is due to injury. As long shot projects go, he was about as long-shotty as a 49th pick can be, and is even more of a throw-in than Andy Betts was when he was traded for Peja Stojakovic in July 2006. Gotta love that. 2) Oklahoma City were able to make this trade because they had roughly $9 million’s worth of cap room. As documented here, Oklahoma City had about as much cap room as anyone this summer, and could have bid on a number of quality players that filled a need (including Utah’s very own Paul Millsap, whose new contract is ironically the reason for the need to salary-dump in the first place.) They didn’t do this, though, instead choosing to sign two of the most marginal players to have ever had ten or more year careers; Kevin Ollie and Ryan Bowen. Reasons like this are partly why; they maintain […]
A Brief History Of Luxury Tax
November 2nd, 2009
The NBA’s luxury tax first came into existence in 2001, the year in which the league’s new escrow system debuted. The escrow system, in layman’s terms, is a system that withholds a certain amount of player’s salaries and puts it into a separate account until the end of the following season’s moratorium. At that point, when the league’s annual audit is done (that’s what the moratorium is for; calculating the numbers), then if the league-wide player salaries exceed a certain percentage of the league’s overall revenue, that account is divvied up amongst the owners and the players never see it. Similarly, if the league-wide salaries do not exceed that percentage, the players get it back. Essentially, it’s a failsafe measure to prevent players from getting paid too much. Luxury tax is an extension of the escrow system, designed to put more money back into the owner’s pockets if they feel the players are getting too much of it. If that sounds like something that might excite you, a longer description with all the relevant numbers and stuff was written by the seminal Larry Coon, and can be found here: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q18 As you might presently yourself fully be aware of, the luxury tax is an owner-friendly system also designed to prevent rich teams from simply outspending the rest of the competition. It is calculated by using a projection of the following year’s Basketball Related Income (roughly 61% of it; a more detailed description of the calculation can be found here), and the idea behind it is simple – you can have a payroll of as much as you like, but if you cross that tax threshold, it starts costing you more. It’s designed to be a deterrent, and to emphasise parity amongst the league’s payrolls, thus tying in nicely with David […]
The Purpose Of Waiving Deron Washington Was….I Don’t Know.
October 27th, 2009
Yesterday, the Detroit Pistons waived 2008 second-round draft pick and flopper extraordinaire, Deron Washington. They had initially signed him back in August to be their 14th and last man, giving him a two-year minimum salary deal with $250,000 guaranteed in the first season. Yet after bringing in Chucky Atkins on an unguaranteed one-year deal for training camp (a move that they won’t have foreseen prior to the Washington signing), the Pistons began to feel that Atkins was more deserving of the 14th man spot, and so they waived Washington to allow them to keep Chucky. That’s the official line, at least. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense though. Disregarding the respective talent levels and fits on the roster of the two players, the finances of the situation seemed to dictate that Deron stayed on. Washington’s large amount of guaranteed money (over 50% of his overall contract for this year) meant that the Pistons could have kept him on until the league-wide contract guarantee date of January 10th, without having to pay him a single extra penny outside of meal stipends. Waive him yesterday, and he’ll cost $250,000; waive him on January 6th, and he’ll still only cost $250,000. Therefore, why waive him? The Pistons aren’t pressed for cash – after a summer of cap room, they rock a payroll of only $58,597,137, 25th in the league. They’ve run out of cap room and exceptions, hence the need for all the minimum salary deals, but they’ll spend what they can anyway. They can afford to swallow Washington without any repercussions coming from it; they’ll lose very little from it. They’ve lost a player that wasn’t in the rotation, and no extra money than what they had already committed, but they’ll also gain absolutely nothing from it. Even if Washington […]
