Is Deng unable or disabled? Amnesty loopholes?

[stan francisco]

Ajinca underwent surgery. They got a 2.75M disabled player exception.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/248637/Pelicans-Receive-$275M-Disabled-Player-Exception

I'm aware that Deng isn't incapacitated due to surgery. But at what point, per the NBA rule book on exceptions, does unable turn into disabled? What's the exact distinction?

And yes it would make perfect sense if there is no such thing as an "unable player exception", and so the real question becomes, is there a kind of amnesty or off the beaten path exception for when a player is unable to play due to early onset of gradual rigor mortis like Deng? Or has he stayed in game shape?

What good is it to the NBA that he and his team are both held back? It's just bad all around, even hurts the NBA. Come on Adam Silver, come up with a new rule, allowing amicable contract termination amnesty to some percentage point or length adjustment. If the union doesn't allow that then add a Deng clause where a team's cap can be allowed an upward extension, or allow a trade where a part of his salary can be traded along with him so that he could play, we'd pay less, someone else gets a decent deal. Something...

At some point it would seem that the NBA would rather see Deng free and playing. And you'd think it's good for the NBA if they solve a situation where both the team and the player are just wasting each other's time.

If a work colleague anywhere in a normal office, he'd be fired last year for sleeping on the job or not holding up my end, union or not. I'm usually not sympathetic with the ownership side of things but this deal is rotten for the Lakers, grossly unfair in terms of dollar per on-court contribution. I wouldn't sleep well if I were Deng, I'd probably retire, tear up and renegotiate the contract and ask the Lakers to contribute the amount he left on the table to his charity organizations in his home country over the next few decades.

Any rule book geeks out there?

[RamonSessions7]

What? No, there is no exemption for having a highly overpaid player you have no interest in playing because he is neither a part of your future nor decent.

[iQon]

The NBA should step in and force a trade. I'm thinking Klay for Deng. [/s]

[BBBKobe]

Deng is here to stay. He'll either be waived this summer or he'll retire.

I'm thinking he'll stick around a while. We'll be paying him off until 2022 LOL!

[Dr Aki]

Deng is here to stay. He'll either be waived this summer or he'll retire.

I'm thinking he'll stick around a while. We'll be paying him off until 2022 LOL!

Fingers crossed we can extend that to 2029

[stan francisco]

I've known but still, it's just such a bummer. There's gotta be some other way but the 2022 or 2029 way.

[stan francisco]

The NBA should step in and force a trade. I'm thinking Klay for Deng. [/s]

Yeah. For basketball reasons.

[danfantastk32]

I appreciate the attempt here, but signing a player you immediately regret, and later you decide not to waste your time with, is not grounds for the disabled exception.

What I'm looking forward to, is the 30for30 in 10 years when they interview Deng, and he sits there with tears rolling down his cheeks, and blows a snot-bubble crying about how the Lakers "stole his career". They play that slow sad piano music, and zoom in on him as he talks/crys about how much he loved the game, and how it was taken from him.

All that guy has to do is walk into the office, and tell Rob he wants to be bought out for $20mil ($10 mil a year for the last 2 years) and Rob would write the contract with the blood from his arm. I laughed when he came out and said he wanted to be let go so he could go play, and talked about how much he loves the game, and just wants to be able to play.

You snookered that fool Jim for about 3-times what your worth....and if you really have any passion for the game, and really truly love the game...I think you can find it in your soul to play for $10 mil a year (plus whatever that other teams pays you btw...at LEAST $5mil, right?).

I hear it now...."you wouldn't leave $15 mil on the table". And while thats true....I have 3 rebuttals: 1) He'd be giving up about $15 mil, but should get at least $5-mil a year in his new contract. You could even make the case he'd get signed for $9-10 mil, and actually come out on top! but either way....he'd really only be out $5-6 mil. 2) Hard to walk away from 5-6 mil when your not even worth 1mil. So of course I wouldn't walk away. But there are guys who would never walk away from 5-6 thousand a year, but I certainly would with the number of thousands I have, if I was in a horrible situation. It's alot easier to walk away from $6-mil when you've made $90+mil in your career. 6-milion is 6-thousand to some people. Kinda wrong, but it is what it is. And lastly 3) If you wouldn't walk away from 5-6 mil, fair enough. But then your passion and love is $$....not Basketball. So spare us the tears.

[LakersLegacy]

Ajinca underwent surgery. They got a 2.75M disabled player exception.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/248637/Pelicans-Receive-$275M-Disabled-Player-Exception

I'm aware that Deng isn't incapacitated due to surgery. But at what point, per the NBA rule book on exceptions, does unable turn into disabled? What's the exact distinction?

And yes it would make perfect sense if there is no such thing as an "unable player exception", and so the real question becomes, is there a kind of amnesty or off the beaten path exception for when a player is unable to play due to early onset of gradual rigor mortis like Deng? Or has he stayed in game shape?

What good is it to the NBA that he and his team are both held back? It's just bad all around, even hurts the NBA. Come on Adam Silver, come up with a new rule, allowing amicable contract termination amnesty to some percentage point or length adjustment. If the union doesn't allow that then add a Deng clause where a team's cap can be allowed an upward extension, or allow a trade where a part of his salary can be traded along with him so that he could play, we'd pay less, someone else gets a decent deal. Something...

At some point it would seem that the NBA would rather see Deng free and playing. And you'd think it's good for the NBA if they solve a situation where both the team and the player are just wasting each other's time.

If a work colleague anywhere in a normal office, he'd be fired last year for sleeping on the job or not holding up my end, union or not. I'm usually not sympathetic with the ownership side of things but this deal is rotten for the Lakers, grossly unfair in terms of dollar per on-court contribution. I wouldn't sleep well if I were Deng, I'd probably retire, tear up and renegotiate the contract and ask the Lakers to contribute the amount he left on the table to his charity organizations in his home country over the next few decades.

Any rule book geeks out there?

The Pacers and Thunder would tell on us.

We will likely extend him then stretch provision him for 3.3 mil per season.

[Spens1]

shame theirs no bad player exemption or inept front office exemption or else we would have gotten that.

[LakersLegacy]

shame theirs no bad player exemption or inept front office exemption or else we would have gotten that.

The owners should push for it in the next CBA. Because these types of contracts ruins franchises. Maybe only half of the stretch provision salary counts against the cap. Lessen the burden.

The pros would be Deng would still get paid his full amount but it wouldn’t hurt the the team as much.

Bad contracts are brutal for fans. Its boils down to statistics. One out of every so many players isn’t going to perform up to the value of their contract.

A new GM needs the power to fix the team and shouldn’t be in shackles due to the previous GM. We already gave away our #2 pick to get out a contract. We can’t give up Ingram or Zo just to shed Deng.

[RamonSessions7]

shame theirs no bad player exemption or inept front office exemption or else we would have gotten that.

The owners should push for it in the next CBA. Because these types of contracts ruins franchises. Maybe only half of the stretch provision salary counts against the cap. Lessen the burden.

The pros would be Deng would still get paid his full amount but it wouldn’t hurt the the team as much.

Bad contracts are brutal for fans. Its boils down to statistics. One out of every so many players isn’t going to perform up to the value of their contract.

A new GM needs the power to fix the team and shouldn’t be in shackles due to the previous GM. We already gave away our #2 pick to get out a contract. We can’t give up Ingram or Zo just to shed Deng.

To be fair, no CBA rule should have been needed to stop these dumb Mozgov and Deng deals.

[mastermixer]

shame theirs no bad player exemption or inept front office exemption or else we would have gotten that.

The owners should push for it in the next CBA. Because these types of contracts ruins franchises. Maybe only half of the stretch provision salary counts against the cap. Lessen the burden.

The pros would be Deng would still get paid his full amount but it wouldn’t hurt the the team as much.

Bad contracts are brutal for fans. Its boils down to statistics. One out of every so many players isn’t going to perform up to the value of their contract.

A new GM needs the power to fix the team and shouldn’t be in shackles due to the previous GM. We already gave away our #2 pick to get out a contract. We can’t give up Ingram or Zo just to shed Deng.

To be fair, no CBA rule should have been needed to stop these dumb Mozgov and Deng deals.

This. Deng and Mozzy should have never been signed. I love Mitch, but I don't know wtf he was thinking.

Plus in your scenario, it's a bit of an advantage to large market teams vs small market teams. It's probably a lot harder for a team like Memphis or OKC to just "pay to get rid of someone" than it is for LA or NY. So it gives LA or NY the advantage to make riskier moves without the consequences.

[Wavy Q]

We need to Tonya Harding him so we can get an disabled release.

Operation Takeout Deng

[stan francisco]

shame theirs no bad player exemption or inept front office exemption or else we would have gotten that.

The owners should push for it in the next CBA. Because these types of contracts ruins franchises. Maybe only half of the stretch provision salary counts against the cap. Lessen the burden.

The pros would be Deng would still get paid his full amount but it wouldn’t hurt the the team as much.

Bad contracts are brutal for fans. Its boils down to statistics. One out of every so many players isn’t going to perform up to the value of their contract.

A new GM needs the power to fix the team and shouldn’t be in shackles due to the previous GM. We already gave away our #2 pick to get out a contract. We can’t give up Ingram or Zo just to shed Deng.

To be fair, no CBA rule should have been needed to stop these dumb Mozgov and Deng deals.

If I buy a TV on a payment plan for 5 years at $25 million per year, you bet your ass I'm gonna go to the store and ask for my money back ifcthe TV isn't working.

The point being: is he disabled or just worthless?

[RamonSessions7]

The owners should push for it in the next CBA. Because these types of contracts ruins franchises. Maybe only half of the stretch provision salary counts against the cap. Lessen the burden.

The pros would be Deng would still get paid his full amount but it wouldn’t hurt the the team as much.

Bad contracts are brutal for fans. Its boils down to statistics. One out of every so many players isn’t going to perform up to the value of their contract.

A new GM needs the power to fix the team and shouldn’t be in shackles due to the previous GM. We already gave away our #2 pick to get out a contract. We can’t give up Ingram or Zo just to shed Deng.

To be fair, no CBA rule should have been needed to stop these dumb Mozgov and Deng deals.

If I buy a TV on a payment plan for 5 years at $25 million per year, you bet your ass I'm gonna go to the store and ask for my money back ifcthe TV isn't working.

The point being: is he disabled or just worthless?

Bad analogy. If you signed a contract with no return policy for a product you are well aware can be ineffective or break at any moment, you aren't getting your money back. The point being is: you cant call your awful FA signings disabled and get an exemption because you made the dumb signing.

[stan francisco]

To be fair, no CBA rule should have been needed to stop these dumb Mozgov and Deng deals.

If I buy a TV on a payment plan for 5 years at $25 million per year, you bet your ass I'm gonna go to the store and ask for my money back ifcthe TV isn't working.

The point being: is he disabled or just worthless?

Bad analogy. If you signed a contract with no return policy for a product you are well aware can be ineffective or break at any moment, you aren't getting your money back. The point being is: you cant call your awful FA signings disabled and get an exemption because you made the dumb signing.

I was sort of elaborating on that in the original post. The question still remains, why isn't he playing? Why? Because of injury? Because he refuses to practice? Because Jeannie doesn't want him there? Why? It begs the question is he useless? If so, when does useless due to old age turn into disabled? If he's so old he uses a cane isntvthat almost worse than Ajinca having had surgery? If you can catch my drift.

[RamonSessions7]

If I buy a TV on a payment plan for 5 years at $25 million per year, you bet your ass I'm gonna go to the store and ask for my money back ifcthe TV isn't working.

The point being: is he disabled or just worthless?

Bad analogy. If you signed a contract with no return policy for a product you are well aware can be ineffective or break at any moment, you aren't getting your money back. The point being is: you cant call your awful FA signings disabled and get an exemption because you made the dumb signing.

I was sort of elaborating on that in the original post. The question still remains, why isn't he playing? Why? Because of injury? Because he refuses to practice? Because Jeannie doesn't want him there? Why? It begs the question is he useless? If so, when does useless due to old age turn into disabled? If he's so old he uses a cane isntvthat almost worse than Ajinca having had surgery? If you can catch my drift.

He is as physicaly healthy as he was when we signed him. He is in no way injured. So I guess he would have to be injured in some way to be called disabled. What he is is a bad contract who is neither skilled enough to play over other players now nor a part of a future worth investing playing time in. So he's not even on the path to being medically disabled.

[stan francisco]

Bad analogy. If you signed a contract with no return policy for a product you are well aware can be ineffective or break at any moment, you aren't getting your money back. The point being is: you cant call your awful FA signings disabled and get an exemption because you made the dumb signing.

I was sort of elaborating on that in the original post. The question still remains, why isn't he playing? Why? Because of injury? Because he refuses to practice? Because Jeannie doesn't want him there? Why? It begs the question is he useless? If so, when does useless due to old age turn into disabled? If he's so old he uses a cane isntvthat almost worse than Ajinca having had surgery? If you can catch my drift.

He is as physicaly healthy as he was when we signed him. He is in no way injured. So I guess he would have to be injured in some way to be called disabled. What he is is a bad contract who is neither skilled enough to play over other players now nor a part of a future worth investing playing time in. So he's not even on the path to being medically disabled.

Ok, Ramon. Too much coke on the cornflakes? Why are you telling me this as if I had argued the opposite?

[RamonSessions7]

I was sort of elaborating on that in the original post. The question still remains, why isn't he playing? Why? Because of injury? Because he refuses to practice? Because Jeannie doesn't want him there? Why? It begs the question is he useless? If so, when does useless due to old age turn into disabled? If he's so old he uses a cane isntvthat almost worse than Ajinca having had surgery? If you can catch my drift.

He is as physicaly healthy as he was when we signed him. He is in no way injured. So I guess he would have to be injured in some way to be called disabled. What he is is a bad contract who is neither skilled enough to play over other players now nor a part of a future worth investing playing time in. So he's not even on the path to being medically disabled.

Ok, Ramon. Too much coke on the cornflakes? Why are you telling me this as if I had argued the opposite?

What. Because the premise of the OP suggests that Deng not being on the court somehow compares to a player being unable to play due to a longterm injury or surgery. The point is he is not in that realm.