NBA Salary Cap Chat With Larry Coon 9/7/12

1. Chumpalump

   Most experts agree Kobe Bryant was second fiddle to Shaq during his first three championships. A tremendous Robin I may add (now a Batman). Rank your top three second fiddles for the upcoming season? Wade has to be #1, no?

   • Larry Coon

     Hmm, good question. Off the top of my head I’d say:

     BRK — Joe Johnson (to Deron Williams)
     DEN — I’d say Andre Iguodala would be a great second fiddle, except I’m not sure who the first fiddle is.
     LAC — Blake Griffin (to Chris Paul)
     LAL — Either Dwight or Kobe — will be interesting to see how this plays out.
     MIA — Wade (to James)
     NYK — not clear what the pecking order is.
     OKC — Russell Westbrook (to KD)
     SAN — not sure what the pecking order is.

     I’m sure I missed a few good ones.

2. Roger

   Let’s say these were two teams in 2006. Who would have come out in a best of seven NBA Finals?
   Eastern team: PG Allen Iverson, SG Dwayne Wade, SF Lebron James, PF Chris Bosh, C Shaquille O’neal
   VS.
   Western Team: PG Steve Nash, SG Kobe Bryant, Tracey McGrady, PF Tim Duncan, C Yao Ming.
   Who would be victorious and why? MVp of the Finals?

   • Larry Coon

     Off the top of my head I’d say the West. Nash and Kobe were at the top of their games. Yao was very effective on Shaq — especially the 2006 Shaq. Plus at the PG spot you have a consummate distributor in Nash vs. a scorer in Iverson.

3. rapsa tapsilog

   Fun question ,would u agree for the the league to place a mandatory jersey change every 3 to 4 years? Whats your favorite jerseys?

   • Larry Coon

     No, tradition means something in this league as well. I wouldn’t want to see the Lakers or Celtics make significant changes, just because they’re forced to.

     I’ll tell you which jersey was NOT my favorite — the throwback jerseys (celebrating the Memphis Tams) worn by the Grizzlies last season. Those were seriously hard on the eyes.

4. Jeff

   With the recent signing of E’Twaun Moore, the Orlando Magic now have 17 players on their roster. How do you expect them to get down to 15?

   • Larry Coon

     Maybe they’ll package a bunch of them and trade them for Dwight Howard….

     Right now two players — Gustavio Ayon and Moore — are non-guaranteed. both will have to earn a spot, although I suspect Ayon will make it. Rob Hennigan could look to package some players together in trade or flip a player for a future draft pick, but I think it’s more likely that someone with a guaranteed contract gets waived — for instance, if Josh McRoberts isn’t impressive in camp, they could dump him and eat his $3.135 million.

5. Constable Geneva

   Who are your top 5 picks to be most likely dealt before the trade deadline? Which teams are likely to land them?

   • Larry Coon

     Good question. I haven’t started thinking about this yet because so much depends on how teams & players play at the beginning of the season. Ask me again in late December or early January.

6. Phil

   When (if) player salaries are reduced across the board to comply with BRI split, how will the salary cap and tax be computed? Will the nominal salary be used or the actual reduced salary?

   • Larry Coon

     Salaries are never reduced across the board to comply with the BRI split. 10% of player salaries are deposited into an escrow account, and the league will draw from that to meet the split. If that isn’t enough money, then they draw from the supplemental benefits fund that comes from 1% of BRI. If even that isn’t enough to make the split, then too bad. The players never lose more than the 10% that went into the escrow fund.

     However, there are mechanisms to put the brakes on the system (by reducing the cap and tax levels) when this is in danger of happening. I describe the mechanism here:

7. David

   Please explain how the contracts of Luis Scola and Brendan Haywood will be treated going forward. Scola had a partially-guaranteed final year, while Haywood had a non-guaranteed final year. Did those final years become fully guaranteed once they were amnestied? Also, what are the rules regarding trading Scola/Haywood NEXT year (realizing that they cannot be traded for one year after being claimed)?

   • Larry Coon

     For amnestied players who are claimed by another team, the player’s new team picks up their bid amount, which is spread across the fully- and partially-guaranteed seasons remaining on the contract. They pay the full amount of any partially-guaranteed or non-guaranteed salary. The idea is that the waiving team won’t have to pay more than they would have had to pay by waiving the player without amnesty. If the new team waives the player while partial- or non-guarantees are in effect, then they are not responsible for actually paying that salary, just as with any other waiver.

     The trade restriction on players claimed via the amnesty provision lasts one year. Phoenix and Charlotte will then be free to trade Scola and Haywood — however, they cannot trade them back to the teams that amnestied them — Houston and Dallas, respectively — for the lifetime of their contracts.

8. Sean

   Hey Larry, Can the Lakers circumvent the cap enough to backload Dwight’s contract if he resigns?

   • Larry Coon

     I wouldn’t call it “circumvent,” and it depends on what you mean by “backload.”

     All players can receive 105% of their previous salary in a new contract, even if it’s over the league-wide maximum salary. And because the Lakers will have Howard’s Bird rights, they will be able to offer him this amount (a little over $20 million). Bird rights also allow him to receive 7.5% raises in a five-year contract. So they’ll be able to give him about $118 million over five years.

9. Geir

   Hi Larry, props for all your offering here and on twitter. Who have you got for 7-8 in the W? Aren’t you maybe selling Min short after add. of AK? They’ve replaced most of their secondary players, all awful, with at least average ones. Pek coming on strong.

   • Larry Coon

     Here are my current picks for the west: 1) OKC, 2) LAL, 3) SAN, 4) LAC, 5) DEN, 6) MEM, 7) DAL, 8) POR. I could certainly be wrong about Minnesota, and they’re the most likely of the teams I didn’t name to claim a spot. My hesitation with them is over Rubio and Roy.

10. o2cats

    Hi Larry, I was reading your updated salary cap FAQs, and it appears that the minimum salary of a 2-year vet is charged when calculating the total used toward the $74.3M hard cap, unless it is a drafted player. Is that only for 1st round picks, or there a difference between a team that drafted a player in the 2nd round, and signing an undrafted rookie? If I am reading that correctly, do you know why either side wanted that rule?
    The Bulls look to be in a very tough spot, but using part of the full MLE, when they may have just traded Korver, or the TPE they got from Korver, back to Atlanta, even sweetening the pot a little to avoid that situation. The Bulls look to be about $760K under the hard cap. Is there any way to add a player, other than on a 10-day contract, for the rest of the season, unless they move salary?
    Could they sign a player to a partially guaranteed deal, and have to cut him later, or wait until the contract prorated below that level, or would having any player on the roster, the last day of the season count at least the 2-year vet, in the hard cap calculation, versus actual payroll?

    • Larry Coon

      They use the two-year vet minimum salary for rookies and 1st year players whose salary is less than the two-year vet minimum. It doesn’t matter whether they were drafted in the first or second round, although off the top of my head, I think all scale salaries for first round picks are greater than the two-year vet minimum.

      The idea was for the hard cap calculations to more closely approximate the salary that will be used for the cap and luxury tax. Rookies and one-year players who make less than the two-year minimum are taxed at the two-year minimum, so that’s the number they use for the hard cap as well. You’re right that the Bulls are in a tough spot — they’re currently $758,602 below the hard cap. They can’t use partially-guaranteed deals — what matters is the team salary amount, which reflects the full salary.

      The only way to clear additional room under the hard cap is to waive non-guaranteed salary, trade for cheaper players, or waive players signed under the new CBA and utilize the stretch provision.

11. igor mitic

    BOSTON CELTICS BAE

    • Larry Coon

      Is that a question?

      If you’re asking whether the Celtics have their Bi-Annual exception available, the answer is yes — however, since they used their non-taxpayer mid-level, they are hard-capped at $74.307 million. Rigth now they are at $71.918 million. They need to be careful with their spending.

12. Laker's Fan

    Hi Larry – If Rip was waived at his $1m guarantee next year could that be ‘stretched’ over 3 yrs ($333k)? Could the waiving team then resign him?

    • Larry Coon

      His contract was signed under the new CBA, so yes — if he’s waived, the remaining guaranteed salary is spread over 2-times the number of remaining seasons, plus one. And yes, a team can re-sign a player it waives (but it doesn’t have Bird rights to the player).

13. Charlie

    What’s the point of offering contracts to players (training camp contracts) that have virtually no chance of making the team? i.e. reeves nelson and greg simogyi on LAL. Or work-outs for players like kapono on san antonio?

    • Larry Coon

      It gives teams extra bodies for training camp, it gives them the opportunity to take a good look at them for possible future plans, and it’s possible a player surprises them and makes the team.

14. Luke

    Hi Larry,

    Your CBA FAQ notes that teams are allowed to have up to 20 players on their rosters in the offseason, including no more than 15 guaranteed contracts. Does that 20-man total include players on summer contracts? If the Rockets, for instance, wanted to invite a couple more players to camp, would they have to waive current players to ensure they don’t exceed 20?

    Thanks.

    • Larry Coon

      Yep — with Machado signed that gives the Rockets 20 players, which is the limit.

15. Ken

    CBAFAQ says: “For 2011-12 teams may have 13 players on their active rosters. A team with 13 active players does not need to have any players on its Inactive List. This change may become permanent starting with the 2012-13 season.”

    When will we know whether it becomes persmanent for the 2012-13 season ?

    • Larry Coon

      I have not been informed that the Board of Governors made it official. Once I know for sure, I’ll update the FAQ.

16. David

    What would you recommend to someone who wanted to get into the NBA General Manager business or something similar to that?

    • Larry Coon

      Work on your jump shot. it’s much easier for former players to join front office ranks.

17. David

    Larry, follow-up to my earlier question (re: Scola/Haywood):

    (1) If the partial/non guaranteed year is picked up, does Scola/Haywood’s salary suddenly JUMP to the same salary they would have been owed had they never been waived? I.e., would Scola’s salary with the Suns jump from ~$4 million to over $11 million?

    (2) How much to their contracts count for salary-matching purposes and on the cap of PHX/CHA/new team? Just the portion of their salaries being paid by PHX/CHA?

    • Larry Coon

      The SALARY stays exactly the same as in the original contract. Only the portion paid by (and charged to the cap of) the new team is affected — and in an amnesty claim, the new team inherits the obligation for all non-guaranteed salary.

      The cap hit reflects the amount paid by the new team.

18. lakerhater

    Can you please tell me why the suns traded nash to the Lakers for little to no cap space move! seems like a terrible decision everyone is ignoring! is the league the new WWE

    • Larry Coon

      Mainly it was a favor for Nash, who had been the face of the franchise for years. He wanted to be as close to his kids as possible, and asked Sarver to be traded to the Lakers.

      Quite the opposite to your WWE contention — I think it was a classy move on Sarver’s part to take care of Nash like that.