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As is their way, San Antonio got George Hill to sign his rookie deal so that it paid only 80% in the third year, using that canny old technique of refusing to budge on their initial offer and thus leaving him with no other options. Sneaky.

But that means that Hill's third year option at 80% is only going to be $771,440. The third year player's minimum salary in 2010/2011 is going to be $854,389.

So which of the two is charged to the Spurs's cap? Surely the latter?

Despite the 80% allowance to rookie scale, won't he actually get paid no less than the minimum? You'd think that's what "minimum" means.

Well yeah, that's what I mean. That's why I ask. It kind of seems pointless, though, to have 80% of the scale as an option, when, for the lower picks (the only ones it'll ever apply to), they can't get it anyway.

Ha! I've been wanting to ask this as well.

(Thanks, Sham).

What we have here are two rules that are in direct conflict with each other. A league source explained to me that the NBA does not amend any contracts with respect to the minimum or maximum annual salaries until the season in which they occur. His guess is that on July 1, 2010 the league will amend the contract to $854,389, because it's his understanding that the minimum salary scale trumps the rookie salary scale. Until that time it will remain as $771,440 on the Spurs' books.

Would this adjustment to Hill's contract in the 3rd year of his deal also affect how much the 4th year of his rookie deal is worth? Hill's 4th year is currently $1,390,906, which matches the defined increase of 80.3% over year 3 for the 26th pick. When Hill's 3rd year salary gets bumped from $771,440 to $854,389 will that increase carry over to the next season and make his 4th year value $1,540,463 (80.3% raise over $854,389)? Or since the current value of $1,390,906 is going to be more than league min does it just stay as-is?

^^ This is no more than an educated guess since we're in uncharted waters, but I suspect that the $1,390,906 will remain since it is part of the original contract and is, as you pointed out, over the minimum, so there is no need to change it.

On another Spurs note, one that I don't think deserves it's own thread, can anyone confirm how much of Bruce Bowen's contract for next season is guaranteed? Everything I had seen suggested that it's fully guaranteed, but evidently Hollinger said in a chat recently that his deal is only partially guaranteed.

I'm just curious because the Spurs need to do something trade-wise this year and if Bowen's deal is only partially guaranteed that potentially makes him more attractive as trade bait to any team looking to make a salary dump.

coyotes_geek wrote:On another Spurs note, one that I don't think deserves it's own thread, can anyone confirm how much of Bruce Bowen's contract for next season is guaranteed? Everything I had seen suggested that it's fully guaranteed, but evidently Hollinger said in a chat recently that his deal is only partially guaranteed.

I'm just curious because the Spurs need to do something trade-wise this year and if Bowen's deal is only partially guaranteed that potentially makes him more attractive as trade bait to any team looking to make a salary dump.

Only half of Bowen's contract is guaranteed. It becomes fully guaranteed if he is not waived before August 1.

^^^ thanks dunk.

^^^ You're welcome.

^^^ Bat wings.

Did you know that George Roy Hill directed "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid"? I wonder if they're related?

There's a place called Georgehill Road about 50 miels from where I live. Do you think they just paved over dead people called George Hill?

By the way, there's another thing here I'm interested in. As discussed, this third year salary is going to be a lot less than the second year salary. But the third year salary is an option. And 'they' say that an option year's salary can't be for less than the salary of the season before it. Which this would be.

Is this something else that's going to have be adjusted, or are scale contracts exempt from that rule?

My guess is that when they wrote the latest CBA, they never anticipated that something like this would happen. So some lawyer in the NBA office said it was all right and approved the contract.