Is it possible to re-negotiate a contract to insert a player/team option?

[HornetJail]

I was trying to brainstorm ways in which the Hornets could lock down Kemba Walker to a lucrative long term contract this summer rather than waiting till 2019. And short of dumping $30M+ worth of contracts to re-structure his entire contract underneath the salary cap, it looks pretty tough, since Kemba doesn't meet the criteria met by the likes of Westbrook and John Wall (barring an unlikely All-NBA selection).

Currently, Walker makes $12M this season, and $12M next season, no options either way before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2019.

Already looked at the Ty Lawson DEN->HOU situation where he and Denver made the final year of his contract unguaranteed as a condition of the trade. But of course that means waiving the player to end his contract, and thus placing him on the waiver wire where anyone can get him (obviously a bad idea). So that's out.

That leaves re-negotiating the contract to insert a player option for 2018-19, without changing the salaries or anything like that. Kemba would obviously decline that (since he'd be looking at a yearly payday of at least double his current salary), making him a 2018 free agent, but with Bird Rights for the Hornets. Then at 12:01 on day one of free agency, offer him a deal he can not refuse.

Is this legal? The CBA FAQ says that eliminating an option year from the contract is legal but it doesn't say anything about going the other way- adding an option on the final year of a contract.

[DBoys]

If he's worth more than $12M, then why would CHA want to change things to make him a FA a year sooner? Makes no sense.

[DBoys]

As to whether they could end his contract by mutual consent between now and July 1, yes of course, but that only works if both parties want him to play elsewhere. The result of such a move would be that CHA would not have the right to sign him until July 2019 under any circumstances.

[HornetJail]

If he's worth more than $12M, then why would CHA want to change things to make him a FA a year sooner? Makes no sense.

quite simply- to make absolutely sure he sticks around. Who knows what happens in 2019, when there's more cap space. I think this team does need to take a step back for a year or two, re-tool, gain some talent, and a new coach and front office. There's cause for concern when your star hits the open market when the team is in that state of flux. If he goes, we're probably doomed for a half decade in the gutter of the league. In my opinion, the $12-15M difference in salary next year is the price to pay for that kind of flexibility to be able to re-tool with that peace of mind that your franchise player isn't going anywhere any time soon.

I believe OKC, Houston, Washington, and Philadelphia have forgone cheaper years to lock down big long term deals for Westbrook, Harden, and Wall (due to those guys being designated All-NBA players) and Covington (with cap space) in order to keep them happy and keep them from hitting unrestricted free agency. This is something I am sure the Hornets would love to do to assure that our franchise player stays put.

As to whether they could end his contract by mutual consent between now and July 1, yes of course, but that only works if both parties want him to play elsewhere. The result of such a move would be that CHA would not have the right to sign him until July 2019 under any circumstances.

I'm aware that taking a buyout or making the contract unguaranteed & waived obviously means he can't come back. I guess my question is, does negotiating a player option into his contract constitute "ending his contract by mutual consent"? I'm not sure there's precedent for it.

[DBoys]

"I guess my question is, does negotiating a player option into his contract constitute "ending his contract by mutual consent"?"

I addressed the practical answer, as to whether there's a way to end the contract early. But wanting to specifically do it THIS ^ way is not a thing. If you wanted an option year, you would do it as an add-on part of an extension, but that doesn't accomplish the aim.

KW will not be a CHA free agent in the summer of 2018. It will be 2019, unless there's an extension before then.

As for whether it would be wise to see him as a FA in 2018, if you could, I think you're dead wrong in wanting him to be a FA now for two reasons.

(1) 2018 wouldn't be a solution as a way to get a discount.

I've seen these "low cap" years many times, and they are always misconstrued in advance. What actually happens is that the squeeze isn't across the board. Instead, the best players are gonna get paid, even in tight cap years, and minimum salary players still get minimums. The players that get less - and where the bargains are found - is almost entirely in the middle class.

So if KW is the franchise, and you don't want to pay what it would take to keep him in 2019, you won't want to do so in 2018 either.

(2) A higher salary for 2018 wouldn't be a way to keep KW in CHA. You'd just lose him sooner.

CHA already explored getting rid of KW the last few weeks because they wanted to lessen payroll - so an idea to willingly increase payroll, by contriving a way to pay him even MORE than the commitment you already have, would be a total non-starter to their mgmt anyhow.

Also, such an idea offers something even worse than a simple (but sizable) payroll jump, as him getting (for example) $25M rather than $12M would bump them way over the tax line and have them paying somewhere around $20M in tax. CHA paying tax? I don't see it.

Point being, such a solution would almost certainly be a disaster for CHA, because the extra salary would probably be a deal killer in too many ways.

More generally, bumping players into free agency earlier in hopes of altering the outcome is the sort of thing that I've seen backfire on teams with regularity. Free agency is always a bit of a dice roll, and if you have a valued player and you can't avoid it entirely by doing an extension, then the best alternative is to wait as long as you can before walking that tightrope.