Could a player retire to void his contract and then become active again and sign for bigger deal?

dirkdiggler4177 · Post #1 » by **dirkdiggler4177** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:17 pm

Sometimes (but rarely :lol:

) an NBA player is signed for a long time on a small contract, but they developed and their value raises. Would it then be possible to retire to void the contract and then become active again and sign with another team?

ORLMagicGirl15 · Post #2 » by **ORLMagicGirl15** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 3:18 pm

Yes. Jason Williams did it but he had to wait out the season. If I am not mistaken, the owners got to vote and it wasn’t unanimous, so he had to wait to come back.

https://www.espn.com/nba/news/story?id=3940977

Hoppy1 · Post #3 » by **Hoppy1** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 4:37 pm

I certainly think that is horrible. Any player that tries that should be required to sit out the length of any contract they have signed.

xdrta+ · Post #4 » by **xdrta+** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:01 pm

Hoppy1 wrote:I certainly think that is horrible. Any player that tries that should be required to sit out the length of any contract they have signed.

Horrible? It's written into the CBA. A player under contract can file for retirement with the league, he's placed on the league's Voluntarily Retired list, gives up the rest of his salary, and can't return to the league for one year. The one year requirement can be waived with a unanimous vote of all 30 teams, which, as a poster noted above, Jason Williams couldn't get--he had to sit out one year.

SelfishPlayer · Post #5 » by **SelfishPlayer** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:06 pm

Durant is tall and skilled, sitting out a year could help him at this stage.

DaddyCool19 · Post #6 » by **DaddyCool19** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:09 pm

So if a Superstar on a meh team tears his ACL in the playoffs and has to sit out a year, could he retire and sign a Max Deal with some other team with cap space the next offseason?

I mean if he was a Top 10 player before, teams would probably still give him a max deal.

madmaxmedia · Post #7 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:14 pm

SOMETHING MUST BE DONE ABOUT THIS

xdrta+ · Post #8 » by **xdrta+** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 5:55 pm

DaddyCool19 wrote:So if a Superstar on a meh team tears his ACL in the playoffs and has to sit out a year, could he retire and sign a Max Deal with some other team with cap space the next offseason?

I mean if he was a Top 10 player before, teams would probably still give him a max deal.

Sure, if he wants to give up his salary for the year he's out, plus any future salary in his contract, in the hope that he'll recover enough for a team to sign him a year from then. Doesn't sound like the smartest move, tbh.

Lalouie · Post #9 » by **Lalouie** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 6:52 pm

i think the one year is too short

i know what you're thinking,,,,,kd, and here's the prob - the trade off for kd is 1 year of his career versus a FOUR year contract to the team he wants to leave. sounds great for kd and really really bad for the nets

i think things to considered - length of remaining contract, and where a player is in the arc of his career.

however, i can easily see a lengthy diddling over a proper time period. therefore the easiest cut and dried solution is "the length of the contract" and in kd's case - 4yrs(or something agreed upon by kd and the nets)...... tough tittie, kd, a contract is a contract. you back out, we still got you under contract. no play no pay