The "Speedy Claxton situation."

[raleigh]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but as a Hawks' fan I find it rather frustrating to see Speedy Claxton on the Hawks' roster when he's not played in a regular season game since March of 2007. I'm not questioning the guy's heart, just the craziness of the policy.

I understand what the Hawks are doing here - it's a LOT cheaper to soak up the insurance payments than buy him out, but as a fan, it's still frustrating.

I do have a couple of questions I'd love to have answered if the "knowledgeables" here wouldn't mind and are able:

1. If the Hawks were to trade Claxton, what would happen with the insurance? Also, would his new team have to wait 41 more games before they could receive payments? Would they have to have a new policy for Claxton?

2. It's my understanding that a team can start receiving compensation (usually 80%) from the insurance company after a player misses 41 consecutive games. But is that 80% of the salary for the 41 games that remain, or is that 80% of the player's salary from all of his missed games (related to that specific injury) that year?

I'm sorry if my questions don't make sense - insurance isn't my thing. What I'm trying to figure out is if there's any incentive to trade Claxton at a specific time during the year, if at all.

[raleigh]

Since I'm not getting any replies, let me phrase this another way:

If Claxton were traded in a deal for Raef Lafrentz, another player whose contract is being paid in majority by insurance, would each player's teams still receive insurance payments???

[raleigh]

Never you mind.

Kevin Pritchard was kind enough to answer my question for me:

http://www.columbian.com/article/20081129/SPORTS01/711297290/-1/SPORTS

LaFrentz, who is out for most of the season with a torn labrum in his right shoulder, is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $12.7 million. But if he misses the first 41 games of the season, each successive game missed will bring an 80 percent return of its pro-rated salary in insurance to the team that holds his contract. The combination of the expiring contract and insurance is expected to draw significant trade interest.

“That’s the card I want to play,” Pritchard said.