lancelet's cousin
Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2005
- Posts
- 463
- Reaction score
- 0
LINKAmnesty rule may help Suns reel in veterans
Paul Coro
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 29, 2005 12:00 AM The Phoenix Suns are hitting their heads on the salary-cap ceiling.
One of the ways around that, the $5.1 million mid-level exception, will be used mostly on signing Raja Bell next week.
As a result, the Suns were looking at filling roster spots with uninspiring minimum-wage workers - until the surprise of the new collective bargaining agreement surfaced.
An amnesty clause was created to pardon some of the league's egregious spending offenses. This comes well after Suns President and General Manager Bryan Colangelo found a taker for Penny Hardaway's contract, but the Suns could still benefit as much as any luxury tax-dodging team.
When the new collective bargaining agreement is finished, each team will be allowed - this summer only - to waive one player and not have him count toward the luxury tax. The amnesty will not create cap space, nor free the teams from the obligation of paying the waived player.
"That doesn't seem fair because it clearly helps the team that already made the bad decision," said Suns investor/adviser Steve Kerr, TNT's top NBA analyst. "What about the team that is about to make the bad decision?"
The Suns are using the clause for Howard Eisley, whose contract was bought out last year but still has a $5.6 million cap charge on the books for the coming season. If the team were to exceed the league's luxury tax threshold, expected to be about $60 million, they would avoid the first $5.6 million of the dollar-for-dollar tax.
But the other, residual benefit for the Suns would happen if one of these high-priced waived players decides that Phoenix is an attractive destination because the Suns are so close to competing for a title.
Michael Finley, Allan Houston, Brian Grant, Raef LaFrentz, Theo Ratliff, Derek Anderson, Jalen Rose, Austin Croshere, Doug Christie and even Grant Hill are often mentioned as players who could be waived under the provision.
"It's going to free up room for teams to spend some money and give some players a new lease on life," agent Mark Bartelstein said.
Anderson, owed $18.8 million over the next two years, is more likely than Ratliff to be set free by Portland. Christie, owed $8.2 million this season, is a more likely cut by Orlando than Hill. Rose, owed $32.6 million over the next two years, is mentioned as an amnesty possibility for Toronto, but the Raptors may not be in luxury-tax jeopardy.
Finley, owed $52 million by Dallas over the next three years, is often linked to the Suns because he is Steve Nash's close friend and played his rookie season and part of the next in Phoenix. But if the Suns retain Joe Johnson to go with reserve shooting guards Jim Jackson and Bell, there would be little interest in their part or Finley's. The Mavericks might also attempt to trade him elsewhere to avoid helping a team they are competing against.
The waived players' new contracts would be paid on top of the salary they will get from their previous teams. Though teams with cap space or a mid-level exception will be able to offer more, the Suns are hoping a veteran might be willing to settle for a minimum contract with them in exchange for the chance to play for a championship.
"All these guys are filthy rich already," Kerr said. "You'd think they would want to go for the ring."
Originally, teams could not contact players until they were waived on Oct. 1, days before training camps open. There is a proposal to advance that date to Aug. 15. How it could work
A collective bargaining agreement provision may limit double dipping by players waived under the amnesty clause.
For example, if Michael Finley were waived by Dallas and signed with Chicago for $3.1 million, he would actually only make an extra $2.1 million on top of the $15.9 million Dallas owes him for the coming season.
A minimum contract for Finley would be $1.1 million, based on last year's CBA. The extra $2 million over the minimum would be split. Half would be considered an offset of his Dallas salary. Half would come from Chicago.
This is the first I've heard of teams splitting the difference of the new contract above the minimum. In the Finley scenario above, does all $3.1 million still count against Chicago's cap?
