DoItALL9 wrote:HartfordWhalers wrote:NYG wrote:Is there a minimum requirement in a buy out? For exaggerated example, if the Bulls bought out Wade, if he agreed to gets $0 in 2017-18 to void his contract with the Bulls is that legal?
Is there a waiver process for bought out players?
What is the specific rules on buy outs?
Bought out players are waived through the normal process, and must clear waivers on their original contracts.
The buyout is an agreement about what happens to a player if they clear waivers. There is no problem with any and all unearned money being agreed to go anywhere between 0 and 100% paid.
Do you know there to be any rule against paying "more" in a buyout?
Example: could the Nets negotiate a buyout with Jeremy Lin right now and pay this year's and next year's salary at once in exchange for him not opting into his player option for the 2018-2019 season?
So:
1) There are rules on when a contract can be renegotiated up in general. These require it be 3 years after the contract was signed, so Lin wouldn't qualify
2) Renegotiations require cap space, so even if he qualified the Nets would need to have that much cap space which they don't (they do have some, just not enough to cover Lin's next year salary)
In general you need to meet those two to pay 'more', neither of which the Nets do. Which means that in general the answer is a clear no.
Teams have historically tried to do this similar effect with trades:
Sixers trade Jason Thompson owed 6.5m and 3m for Wallace owed 10m / 0m {Not the exact amounts but close enough off memory.}
Thus moving the cap hit all into one year.
The trade market is imperfect, and trades like that have often looked like 2/2 for 5/0 (or even 6/0) where the team looking to dump the future obligation has to eat a larger obligation now than they are dumping.