Trade kickers in minimum salary contracts

[MarkDeeks]

I cannot see a way that minimum salary contracts can contain trade bonuses.

However, I also consistently see that they do. Specifically, Nazr Mohammed and Beno Udrih seem to, while Devin Brown did a few years ago. His was even utilised.

So what am I missing? How does this reconcile?

[MarkDeeks]

HA, stumped you.

[DBoys]

Two possibilities that I see. Pick 1, 2, or none of the below; your choice.
1 In the UPC, a trade bonus is not called a bonus nor is it termed Incentive Compensation. It's actually called a "trade payment," and that distinction may disqualify it from the prohibition on granting any "bonus" in a Minimum Salary Exception contract. (The sloppy lawyering in which the CBA calls it one thing and the UPC another muddies up the water, of course, but that's a different matter.)
2 In some instances in which a player is signed to a contract for the minimum, they are being paid the smallest salary possible but they are not being signed using the MSE. In such a case, the contract could legally contain bonuses of any sort.

[MarkDeeks]

With regards to 2, that surely cannot have been what happened with Udrih. So it has to be 1.

[DBoys]

While I lean towards 1 anyhow, I gotta ask:

When did Udrih get traded on a MS contract and receive a trade kicker?

[MarkDeeks]

He didn't get traded. He has a trade kicker in his current minimum salary deal with the Knicks.

[Dunkenstein]

A knowledgable man just answered the question in an email to yours truly:

"Trade Bonuses are not vested until trades, so they can have Exhibit 4/trade
bonuses and still be considered minimum contracts for signing purposes.
Nazr, Beno and Nick Young all 3 are current Minimum Exception signed players
that have Exhibit 4/trade bonuses in their contracts.

"If the player is traded, the trade bonus becomes vested and the receiving
team cannot use the minimum exception to acquire the contract. The
receiving team has to find another exception/route for CBA compliance."

I hope that solves your conundrum Mr. Deeks.

[MarkDeeks]

It does. Thank you, whoever that was.