Kobe Paycut???

[muslimballa90]

Just read that Dirk will take a paycut if it means itll help bring free agents to Dallas since he only has one year left on his contract, how do we get Kobe Bryant to do the same? Although Kobe deserves every dollar of that 30+ million since he is the GOAT. If kobe really wants another championship by the time he retires then he should man up and take a pay cut for us to have better role players. Can we start a trendy hashtag to get people aware of this? lol

[dockingsched]

kobe hasn't even committed to playing after his contract expires.

[Doormatt]

kobe hasn't even committed to playing after his contract expires.

i dont think thats what OP is asking hes trying to ask if kobe can take a pay cut from his current contract.

which im pretty sure is impossible.

[kblo247]

Yeah that's impossible, and even if it were the PA would have his head.

Edit - I'm confused, op you did mean his current last year right? Or the deal after it?

[DEEP3CL]

I don't even see why that Dirk stuff is a story. He's on a deal this coming season, Howard and Paul are free agents THIS summer not next summer. Dirk deal ends next summer, so what does he expect...for CP and Howard to take 1 year deals this summer.

Pffffft.......Dirk smoke'in that sugar.

[hazy_01]

Yeah, doesn't make sense or maybe he meant he wishes they sign ether Paul or Dwight this year and then sign on with less salary the following year to make room for Mavs to sign another top-tier player. For Kobe, IF he plays another year or two he will for sure take a big pay cut imo.

[rhp1990]

I think Dirk was just saying if they sign a max deal player. He would be willing to take a paycut on his next deal so the team is not hit with a big luxury tax and still keep filling out the roster.

[Jakay]

"When deal is up after next season, Dirk says he'd take pay cut to help Mavs improve" is the title of that article.

And since that's going to happen regardless, it's a noble sentiment and nothing more. Kobe will also likely have to accept a paycut beyond his current deal. Nash accepted a paycut to join the Lakers.

Related story: Westbrook and Rose not expected to return for this year's playoffs.

[LAKESHOW]

Paycut implies re-negotiation. Paycut implies that KOBE is comin back.

But to take a Paycut on his last paycheck?! Before he retires?!

I don't know about that.

[minifang]

I can honestly see him taking one (don't know how much). He knows his contract affects the team and our ability to acquire other key guys. He also knows that the team has to start preparing for the post Kobe era. The only question is will he want to play after next season?

[EasternMagic]

LOL

[Johnny Kilroy]

no rich cat in cali wants a paycut. 13.3% state tax? combined with fed/state/fica u are giving away 55% of your salary.

if anything, kobe should demand an INCREASE.

[TylersLakers]

He's making 30m this season. I don't think he'll mind cutting that down to 10m after this season - if he doesn't retire.

[TylersLakers]

We do have Kobe's bird rights.. So couldn't we pull off this scenario?

- Re-sign Dwight this off-season (approx 20m)

After this season, everyone expires, the only contracts we have are Nash (9m) and Howard (20m).

- We sign a max contract (17m) which then gives us a salary of 46m approx. Then we sign another good player for 8-10m a year to put us at that 59m where that would be the end of the cap space.

Could we THEN sign Kobe to 12m a season since we'd have his bird rights?

[dockingsched]

the CBA protects against that by having something called a cap hold. basically kobe, or any free agent that you hold bird rights for, already counts against your cap. to remove the cap hold u either have to sign them, in which case the players actual salary begins to count against your cap, or you have to waive that players bird rights.

[kblo247]

I really doubt he takes 10. Maybe 15, 10 is a joke with Cali taxes and the revenue he knows he generates for the lakers. No good agent, and he has the best would settle for that

[Kilroy]

I believe Kobe's on a 3 yr deal. Contracts shorter than 4yrs can't be renegotiated or extended.
We have full Bird rights on Kobe... Cap holds for full Bird players are actually 150% of a players previous year's salary, but not to exceed the "players max salary" for the season based on the cap. So the hold for Kobe should be around 20M unless the cap changes drastically. The cap is likely going to be in the 58M range.
We'll have Nash, Dwight (or another max player of he leaves), etc on the books too.

He's going to have to take a pay cut if he wants to come back. Revenue generating or not, his contract is an albatross around our neck at this point. And in this Cap environment, I'd be disappointed if we paid him more than $10M a year on a multi-yr contract...

[dockingsched]

kobe's cap hold is going to be close to 32 mil (105% of his previous max salary), not 20 mil.

[DEEP3CL]

I really doubt he takes 10. Maybe 15, 10 is a joke with Cali taxes and the revenue he knows he generates for the lakers. No good agent, and he has the best would settle for that

15 will still be too much for a guy going on 36 come that time. The ideal contract would be 2 years at about 12-13 per season, maybe kick in a team option which would give leverage to the front office. I truly believe Kobe isn't playing past 38 years of age.

[Kilroy]

kobe's cap hold is going to be close to 32 mil (105% of his previous max salary), not 20 mil.

37. How much do free agents count toward team salary?

The free agent amount depends on the player's previous salary and what kind of free agent he is:
Kind of free agent Previous salary Free agent amount
Any Minimum salary Portion of minimum salary not reimbursed by the league (see question number 16)
Larry Bird, except when coming off rookie scale contract At least the estimated average salary1 150% of his previous salary2
Larry Bird, except when coming off rookie scale contract Below the estimated average salary1 190% of his previous salary2
Larry Bird, following the fourth season of his rookie scale contract At least the estimated average salary1 200% of his previous salary2
Larry Bird, following the fourth season of his rookie scale contract Below the estimated average salary1 250% of his previous salary2
Larry Bird, following the third season of his rookie scale contract Any The maximum amount the team can pay the player using the Larry Bird exception (see question number 25)
Early Bird, following the second season of his rookie scale contract Any The maximum amount the team can pay the player using the Early Bird exception (see question number 25)
Early Bird (all others) Any 130% of his previous salary1
Non-Bird Any 120% of his previous salary1

Note that if a player was amnestied and claimed by another team in a partial waiver claim (see question number 67), the percentages in the above chart are based on the player's full season salary, and not just the portion paid by the claiming team.

A restricted free agent is included in team salary by the greatest of:

His free agent amount (as defined in the table above)
The amount of his qualifying offer (see question number 43)
The first-year salary in a first refusal exercise notice (a notice given to the player that the team is exercising its right of first refusal by matching an offer sheet (see question number 43)

Here's an example of how to use this chart: Let's say a player who made $5 million during the previous season becomes an Early Bird free agent, and is not coming off the second season of his rookie scale contract. According to this chart, the player's free agent amount is 130% of his previous salary. So $6.5 million is included in team salary while he is a free agent.

See question number 48 for more information on rookie "scale" contracts, question number 40 for information on renouncing players, and question number 43 for information on restricted free agency.
1 See question number 31.
2 Not to exceed the player's maximum salary, based on years of service (see question number 16).

Here are the league-wide maximum salaries. Note that there are exceptions to the maximum salary (see question number 17).
Years in NBA1 Defined maximum salary 2011-12 2012-13
0 - 6 25% of cap2 $12,922,194 $13,668,750
7 - 9 30% of cap2 $15,506,632 $16,402,500
10+ 35% of cap2 $18,091,071 $19,136,250

If you follow the link for footnote 2, it says the max salary for a player with Kobe's experience this season is 19M and change.

The way I read it, since Kobe's previous salary far exceeded the max salary, the hold would be calculated based on the lower number. Maybe I'm reading too much into it.