RealGM

I'll keep this short and sweet, because I'm not very interesting.

What will be the cap holds for players such as Tracy McGrady, Jermaine O'Neal, etc? Will they be charged as:

a) the maximum based on their years of service, or
b) since it's greater than that, 105% of their previous salary?

I know that the maximum a player can get is never less than 105% of their previous, but Larry's FAQ says about cap holds that :

Not to exceed the player's maximum salary, based on years of service

Does this mean that the cap hold is determined by years of service rather than the 105% (A), or that the max free agent amount is the same as the maximum possible salary and I'm just overthinking things? (B)

As I understand it, the cap hold would be equal to the maximum salary the player can receive. In the case of players who earn more than the maximum salary based on their years of service, their cap hold would be 105% of their current salary.

The answer is unquestionably B.

In Art VII Sec 4 (d) a player's free agent amount (aka cap hold) for the situation you're describing is explicitly limited to that player's "Maximum Player Salary" ....and Art II Sec 7 defines "Maximum Player Salary" for each player as the "greater of" the scale amount (based on years) or 105%