Euro Buyout

[casey]

This seems incredibly illegal, but people keep suggesting it so I figured I would ask. Can the Wolves pay $500,000 for Henk Norel's buyout in exchange for DKV Joventut accepting a lower buyout for Rubio?

[Dunkenstein]

I believe what Kahn is trying to do is give Joventut $500K each for Rubio and Norel. Since Kahn has been in regular communication with Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver throughout the process, the league may have agreed that this is not circumvention.

[casey]

Yeah, but how could it not be considered circumvention. It seems pretty blatant, doesn't it?

[Dunkenstein]

Yeah, but how could it not be considered circumvention. It seems pretty blatant, doesn't it?

The point is now moot.

[casey]

I'd still like to know, if anybody else can chime in.

[Devin 1L]

I would have to assume circumvention.

While it's not spelled out explicitly (how could you list everything?), I think it'd sort of be captured by the CBA's "spirit of the law" type sections. The NBA seems to have pretty broad and subjective powers to stomp on something like this when you, I, and all of RealGM knows what's really going on, but what appears to technically be legal.

I highlighted below some of the keywords in the text as I scrolled through it that really seem to give the NBA the broad power to basically say, "Yeah, ok....how 'bout no."

Section 1. General Prohibitions.
(a) It is the intention of the parties that the provisions agreed to herein, including, without limitation, those relating to the Salary Cap, the Exceptions to the Salary Cap, the scope of Basketball Related Income, the Escrow System, the Rookie Scale, the Right of First Refusal, the Maximum Player Salary, and free agency, be interpreted so as to preserve the essential benefits achieved by both parties to this Agreement. Neither the Players Association, the NBA, nor any Team (or Team Affiliate) or player (or person or entity acting with authority on behalf of such player), shall enter into any agreement, including, without limitation, any Player Contract (including any Renegotiation, Extension, or amendment of a Player Contract), or undertake any action or transaction, including, without limitation, the assignment or termination of a Player Contract, which is, or which includes any term that is, designed to serve the purpose of defeating or circumventing the intention of the parties as reflected by all of the provisions of this Agreement.

(b) It shall constitute a violation of Section 1(a) above for a Team (or Team Affiliate) to enter into an agreement or understanding with any sponsor or business partner or third-party under which such sponsor, business partner or third-party pays or agrees to pay compensation for basketball services (even if such compensation is ostensibly designated as being for non-basketball services) to a player under Contract to the Team. Such an agreement with a sponsor or business partner or third-party may be inferred where: (i) such compensation from the sponsor or business partner or third-party is substantially in excess of the fair market value of any services to be rendered by the player for such sponsor or business partner or third-party; and (ii) the Compensation in the Player Contract between the player and the Team is substantially below the fair market value of such Contract.

(c) It shall constitute a violation of Section 1(a) above for a Team (or Team Affiliate) to have a financial arrangement with or offer a financial inducement to any player (not including retired players) not signed to a current Player Contract, except as permitted by this Agreement.

(d) Nothing contained in Section 1(c) above shall interfere with a Team’s obligation to pay a player Deferred Compensation earned under a prior Player Contract.

Top

Section 2. No Unauthorized Agreements.
(a) At no time shall there be any agreements or transactions of any kind (whether disclosed or undisclosed to the NBA), express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent, or understandings of any kind (whether disclosed or undisclosed to the NBA), between a player (or any person or entity controlled by, related to, or acting with authority on behalf of, such player) and any Team (or Team Affiliate):

(i) concerning any future Renegotiation, Extension, or amendment of an existing Player Contract, or entry into a new Player Contract;

(ii) except as permitted by this Agreement or as set forth in a Uniform Player Contract (provided that the Team has not intentionally delayed submitting such Uniform Player Contract for approval by the NBA), involving compensation or consideration of any kind to be paid, furnished or made available to the player, or any person or entity controlled by, related to, or acting with authority on behalf of the player; or

(iii) involving an investment or business opportunity to be furnished or made available to the player, or any person or entity controlled by, related to, or acting with authority on behalf of the player.

(b) In addition to the foregoing, it shall be a violation of this Section 2 for any Team (or Team Affiliate) or any player (or any person or entity controlled by, related to, or acting with authority on behalf of, such player) to attempt to enter into or to intentionally solicit any agreement, transaction, promise, undertaking, representation, commitment, inducement, assurance of intent or understanding that would be prohibited by Section 2(a) above.

(c) A violation of Section 2(a) above may be proven by direct or circumstantial evidence, including, but not limited to, evidence that a Player Contract or any term or provision thereof cannot rationally be explained in the absence of conduct violative of Section 2(a).

(d) In any proceeding brought before the System Arbitrator pursuant to this Section 2, no adverse inference shall be drawn against the party initiating such proceeding because that party, when it first suspected or believed that a violation of Section 2 may have occurred, deferred the initiation of such proceeding until it had further reason to believe that such a violation had occurred.

(e) A player will not be found to have committed a violation of Section 2(a)(ii) above if the violation is the Team’s intentional delay in submitting a Uniform Player Contract to the NBA and this was done without the player’s knowledge.

The interesting thing for me is how this may or may not have played into draft night.

When they drafted Henk Norel, my first though was "Ah, draft one of his teammates to help convince Rubio to come over. Nice." That's really all I thought there was to it.

Now, I can't help but wonder... Did they have this potential plan in the back of their heads prior to drafting Norel? Not just the 'draft his teammate to make him happy or something' idea, but the thought that they already know Rubio has a large buyout, that it will likely be an issue with him coming over, that they're capped at 500k, and that perhaps if they could draft his teammate they could effectively add 500k more to it by "buying him out" as well.

I don't know the answer, obviously, but I find it interesting nonetheless, especially when you consider that they probably didn't expect that Rubio would fall to them, and that such a decision could have been rushed and made spur of the moment (it's not like a late pick ever gets you much anyhow).