Pre-Free Agency Salary Cap Info

[younggunsmn]

A lot of this info came from Wyn's salary database, found here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key ... SXc&gid=19
A lot of recent updates using my own research for 1st round picks and cap holds for free agents,
most of which had to be changed due to changes in the new CBA.

Here is where the Wolves sit currently.
First Column: Salary after 1st rounders signed (120% scale)
2nd Column: Max Cap Room (Salary before 1st rounders signed (cap hold of 100% scale),
3rd Column: Free Agency # (Includes any cap holds for FA's we want to re-sign)

2011-12 Max Room FA # 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16
1 Michael Beasley 6,262,347 6,262,347 6,262,347 8,172,363
2 Martell Webster 5,256,000 5,256,000 5,256,000 5,712,000 2012: 600,000 guaranteed
3 Darko Milicic 4,775,250 4,775,250 4,775,250 5,228,000 5,687,375 2013: 2,000,000 guaranteed
4 Brad Miller 4,752,000 4,752,000 4,752,000 5,104,000 2012: 848,000 guaranteed
5 Derrick Williams 4,602,720 3,835,600 3,835,600 4,947,840 5,293,080 6,679,867 8,717,226
6 Nikola Pekovic 4,595,000 4,595,000 4,595,000 4,915,000 5,898,000
7 Kevin Love 4,609,701 4,609,701 4,609,701 6,112,403
8 Wesley Johnson 4,006,080 4,006,080 4,006,080 4,285,560 5,421,233 7,150,670
9 Luke Ridnour 3,680,000 3,680,000 3,680,000 4,000,000 4,320,000
10 Ricky Rubio 3,480,120 3,480,120 3,480,120 3,741,120 4,002,120 5,070,686 6,723,730
11 Anthony Randolph 2,911,231 2,911,231 2,911,231 4,049,523
12 Anthony Tolliver 2,050,000 2,050,000 2,050,000
13 Wayne Ellington 1,154,040 1,154,040 1,154,040 2,083,042 3,103,733
14 Lazar Hayward 1,097,520 1,097,520 1,097,520 1,174,080 2,119,214 3,178,822
Total Salary 53,232,009 52,464,889 52,464,889 37,205,322 6,320,000 0 0
Cap Room 4,811,991 5,579,111 5,579,111 8 1 0 0

Free Agents 2010 Salary Cap Hold QO BRD/EB
Sebastian Telfair 2,700,000 5,130,000 BRD

Rights Held Drafted Yr
Malcolm Lee 43 2011
Tanguy Ngombo 57 2011
Nemanja Bjelica 35 2010
Paulao Prestes 45 2010
Henk Norel 47 2009
Loukas Mavrokalidas 57 2006

Our cap room will sit at 5,579,111 once we renounce our rights to Telfair.

[younggunsmn]

Here are the numbers league-wide for max cap room.
This number is calculated by assuming teams cut all their unguaranteed contracts
and renounce all of their free agents. 1st round picks are assumed unsigned and counted as 100% of their rookie scale amount for a cap hold.
In short, this is the most cap room teams can create without making a trade or using the amnesty provision.

Team Max Cap
1 DEN 23,914,246
2 SAC 23,451,472
3 IND 20,415,733
4 NJ 15,821,012
5 WAS 13,164,575
6 LAC 11,519,424
7 NOH 9,946,842
8 HOU 8,623,881
9 DET 7,886,772
10 TOR 6,960,160
11 GS 6,029,484
12 CHA 5,616,606
13 MIN 5,579,111
14 MIL 4,837,456
15 MEM 4,088,073
16 OKC 3,596,521
17 PHX 2,139,480
18 PHI 1,314,722
19 CLE -2,544,422
20 UTA -4,733,467
21 NYK -5,141,065
22 DAL -5,705,987
23 CHI -6,994,092
24 MIA -7,102,827
25 ATL -9,166,117
26 POR -14,610,821
27 SAS -15,264,308
28 BOS -15,569,136
29 ORL -20,180,100
30 LAL -32,280,355

As you can see, there are 12 teams with more room than the wolves.

Reading it in reverse you get a picture of what teams are in danger of going into the lux,
which would start at -12,256,000.
POR, SAS, BOS, ORL, and LAL will all pay the tax if they don't dump salary in an amnesty/trade.
They all will also lose use of the full MLE, and LLE, and get only the mini mid-level. This is unavoidable, as the MLE and LLE are set on the 1st day of free agency.

MIA, DAL, ATL, CHI, and NY are also in danger of going into the lux depending on what they do in free agency and what trades they make.

[Grits n Gravy]

Here are the numbers league-wide for max cap room.
This number is calculated by assuming teams cut all their unguaranteed contracts
and renounce all of their free agents. 1st round picks are assumed unsigned and counted as 100% of their rookie scale amount for a cap hold.
In short, this is the most cap room teams can create without making a trade or using the amnesty provision.

Team Max Cap
1 DEN 23,914,246
2 SAC 23,451,472
3 IND 20,415,733
4 NJ 15,821,012
5 WAS 13,164,575
6 LAC 11,519,424
7 NOH 9,946,842
8 HOU 8,623,881
9 DET 7,886,772
10 TOR 6,960,160
11 GS 6,029,484
12 CHA 5,616,606
13 MIN 5,579,111
14 MIL 4,837,456
15 MEM 4,088,073
16 OKC 3,596,521
17 PHX 2,139,480
18 PHI 1,314,722
19 CLE -2,544,422
20 UTA -4,733,467
21 NYK -5,141,065
22 DAL -5,705,987
23 CHI -6,994,092
24 MIA -7,102,827
25 ATL -9,166,117
26 POR -14,610,821
27 SAS -15,264,308
28 BOS -15,569,136
29 ORL -20,180,100
30 LAL -32,280,355

As you can see, there are 12 teams with more room than the wolves.

nice one man, great work...is that taking into account the cap holds for smith and chandler for denver?

[younggunsmn]

Here is the max cap room formula,
but I assume each team uses the amnesty on the most likely candidate.

I call this the max cap room with amnesty table.

Team Amnesty Player Salary
1 WAS 33,827,601 Rashard Lewis 21,136,630
2 SAC 32,406,713 John Salmons 8,500,000
3 DEN 29,666,842 Al Harrington 6,226,200
4 IND 27,537,729 James Posey 7,595,600
5 LAC 23,745,820 Chris Kaman 12,700,000
6 NJ 22,347,408 Travis Outlaw 7,000,000
7 DET 19,913,168 Richard Hamilton 12,500,000
8 TOR 16,267,548 Jose Calderon 9,780,992
9 CHA 14,849,285 Corey Maggette 10,262,068
Dasagana Diop 6,952,400
10 HOU 13,277,997 Hasheem Thabeet 5,127,720
11 CLE 10,881,974 Baron Davis 13,900,000
12 MIL 10,590,052 Drew Gooden 6,226,200
13 MIN 10,331,111 Brad Miller 4,752,000
14 NOH 9,946,842
15 PHX 9,321,980 Josh Childress 7,182,500
16 GS 8,430,327 Charlie Bell 4,099,920
17 OKC 8,237,521 Nate Robinson 4,641,000
18 PHI 7,491,118 Andres Nocioni 6,650,000
19 UTA 5,682,929 Mehmet Okur 10,890,000
20 MEM 4,088,073
21 DAL 1,444,909 Brendan Haywood 7,624,500
22 POR -52,281 Brandon Roy 15,032,144
23 ORL -1,384,397 Gilbert Arenas 19,269,307
24 ATL -2,139,721 Marvin Williams 7,500,000
25 MIA -2,176,431 Mike Miller 5,400,000
26 NYK -5,141,065
27 SAS -6,455,912 Richard Jefferson 9,282,000
28 CHI -6,994,092
29 BOS -9,342,936 Jermaine O'Neal 6,226,200
30 LAL -27,073,959 Ron Artest 6,790,640
Luke Walton 5,680,000



The Wolves do even worse on this table, falling to 14th in available cap room.
If you look at it in reverse with regards to the luxury tax (12,256,000 above cap),
every team but the Lakers can avoid the luxury tax by using the amnesty.

[younggunsmn]

This one is perhaps the most realistic table.
I call this
Max Cap Room w/ likely free agents.
This table adds in the cap holds for each team's:
1. Unrestricted Free Agents they realistically might want to re-sign using the Bird Exception
2. Restricted Free Agents they chose to tender a qualifying offer to.

I put a U next to unrestricted,
R next to restricted FA
B next to full Bird rights players
EB next to early bird rights players
and N next to no bird rights players.

A team's free agents are under the team name, along with their status and cap hold.
If you want to find a team's resulting cap space should it renounce a free agent's rights (or he signs with another team), add his cap hold to the total, and then subtract 473,604 because you have to add back a minimum cap hold to take his roster spot.

Team Likely FA Likely FA's
1 IND 20,005,044
2 LAC 10,054,421
DeAndre Jordan R B 1,623,339
3 NJ 9,453,046
Kris Humphries U B 6,080,000
4 WAS 6,042,546
Nick Young R B 6,576,257
Othyus Jeffers R N 1,029,389
Larry Owens R N 937,195
Hamady Ndiaye R N 937,195
5 TOR 5,810,425
Sonny Weems R B 1,623,339
6 MIN 5,579,111
7 SAC 5,252,886
Sam Dalembert U B 19,045,250
Marcus Thornton R EB 1,029,389
8 CHA 5,060,821
Dante Cunningham R EB 1,029,389
9 GS 4,804,011
Reggie Williams R EB 1,029,389
10 MIL 3,687,721
Luc Mbah a Mute R B 1,623,339
11 HOU 3,298,387
Chuck Hayes U B 3,747,750
12 OKC -2,020,842
Daequan Cook R B 5,424,643
13 DEN -2,467,053
Nene Hilario U B 16,324,500
Wilson Chandler R B 5,326,205
Aaron Afflalo R B 4,898,943
Gary Forbes R N 937,195
14 CLE -5,006,459
15 NYK -6,327,386
Derrick Brown R N 1,029,389
16 CHI -6,994,092
17 MIA -8,740,490
Mario Chalmers R B 1,623,339
18 PHX -9,688,786
Grant Hill U B 6,156,000
Aaron Brooks R B 5,041,730
19 PHI -12,701,213
Spencer Hawes R B 7,435,800
Thaddeus Young R B 7,253,103
20 NOH -12,714,271
David West U B 12,431,250
Marco Bellinelli R B 5,950,675
Carl Landry U B 5,700,000
21 MEM -15,667,466
Shane Battier U B 11,031,750
Marc Gasol R B 6,789,333
Hamed Haddadi R B 3,040,000
22 DET -16,700,200
Tayshaun Prince U B 16,324,500
Rodney Stuckey R B 6,917,815
Jonas Jerebko R EB 1,029,389
23 SAS -17,291,533
24 ATL -25,996,000
Jamal Crawford U B 16,200,000
25 BOS -26,235,502
Jeff Green R B 11,139,970
26 UTA -27,837,402
Andrei Kirilenko U B 19,045,250
Ronnie Price U B 2,624,375
Krylyo Fesenko U B 2,066,250
27 POR -29,257,404
Greg Oden R B 13,521,048
Patty Mills R EB 1,218,354
28 LAL -38,099,915
Shannon Brown U B 4,083,480
29 ORL -40,050,242
Jason Richardson U B 19,045,250
30 DAL -52,163,116
Tyson Chandler U B 18,900,000
Caron Butler U B 15,842,940
Deshawn Stevenson U B 7,888,393
Jose Juan Barea U B 3,448,500

[younggunsmn]

The wolves do a lot better in this table, with the 6th most cap room.
For Denver's purposes I did not include JR Smith since he is injured in China (not eligible to sign here until March) and I can see them waiving his Bird Rights to sign someone.

The Cap Hold for retaining his Bird Rights would be 10,136,777

[younggunsmn]

(Grits n Gravy)
nice one man, great work...is that taking into account the cap holds for smith and chandler for denver?

no, that's in the free agent table.
patience

[Kurosawa]

Excellent work younggunsman. Thank you.

Despite the fact that Minnesota ranks 13th in cap space, I actually like the Wolves' cap situation better than practically any other team in the league. Under the new CBA, teams have to spend 85 percent of the cap figure on salaries. This will force a lot of teams with $15 million-plus in cap space (due primarily to having so few players under contract) into a slew of bad contracts or overpaying for mediocre talent. With 14 guys under contract (15 counting Malcolm Lee) and roughly 90 percent of the cap figure already committed, the Wolves' roster is set and loaded with mostly good contracts and promising young talent.

I expect that if the Wolves make a trade, it will be with a club needing to shed some salary to avoid the tax. We could comfortably part with, say, Martell Webster and his $5.5 million salary for a $10-million-a-year veteran SG who can provide more quality minutes, defense, and leadership than Webster. Not sure who that might be--just an example of a scenario that's more likely than a trade with a high-cap-space club.

[younggunsmn]

Thanks Kurosawa.

For the record, the minimum team salary the next 2 years will be 49,337,400, (or 8,706,600 below the cap). Teams technically don't have to sign anyone (they can just pay the difference as a kind of tax), but the big increase in the minimum salary (last year was a little over 43 mil) is a reason that Rashard Lewis will probably not be amnestied for instance.

There are a ton of creative things teams can do with cap room. Look at what OKC did with Nick Collison last year, using its cap room to pay a big chunk of his extension on last year's cap.

I'm wondering if we could do the same thing with Kevin Love, but I don't think it is allowed with rookie extensions. If I could get clarification on that point from someone I'd really appreciate it.

If we could, we might choose to amnesty Brad Miller and pay off 10,331,000 of Love's extension on this cap year, opening up 2 mil a year of cap room the next 5 years.

We should also use a tiny bit of our room (or the LLE) to sign Malcolm Lee to a 2 year deal at slightly above min with a couple of unguaranteed years added on (function as team options), like the rockets, spurs, kings, and clippers have been so successful with (deandre jordan, chase budinger, deJuan Blair, Hassan Whiteside).

But I think you're right in that we are going to see a lot of teams with room taking salary dumps for cash + a small incentive. Also could be alot of bidders for amnestied players.

Personally I'd like us to amnesty Miller and make a big offer sheet for Afflalo, Gasol, or DeAndre Jordan, or sign and trade for one using Beasley or Randolph.

I can also see McHale convincing the Rockets to take Pek's salary on and give us a 2nd round pick in return.

[shrink]

Beautiful work. This is crucial information for the amnesty free agency period.

I think MIN will have a wee bit more cap room though. I'm glad you changed Williams rookie scale to the 2010-11 numbers, but they will sign him last, because until he signs, they don't tack on the 20% raise to the cap room. $4,602,720 - 3,835,600 = $767,120 more.

[Saltine]

Nice work!
Here is a link to Wyn's new spreadsheet 2011-12;
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub ... _US&gid=19

Oh, for future reference, here is the main page that links to the spreadsheets, if anyone needs it;
http://wyndouglas.com/projects/nbacontracts.htm

[Klomp]

Want to throw out some info, something just to keep in the back of your mind. The new CBA has the MLE “apron” for teams with over $69 million in commitments. At that dollar amount the value of a given team’s MLE goes down (the calculation is that current commitments plus the MLE is limited to $74 million, but the total value of the MLE offer will not drop below $3 million (three-year deal if a team gets a reduced MLE).

So, which teams are currently limited to the “mini MLE”? Ignoring potential amnesty cuts, which could change a team’s status, here they are (assume first-round picks are included in the team’s salary total):

Los Angeles Lakers
Orlando Magic
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs

These teams will have the full MLE, a four-year deal starting at $5 million (some of these teams are under the cap but have cap holds for restricted free agents that, when combined with the MLE amount, put them over the cap, so they receive the MLE):

Atlanta Hawks
Boston Celtics
Charlotte Bobcats
Chicago Bulls
Cleveland Cavaliers
Dallas Mavericks
Detroit Pistons
Memphis Grizzlies
Miami HEAT
Milwaukee Bucks
Minnesota Timberwolves
New York Knicks
Oklahoma City Thunder
Philadelphia 76ers
Phoenix Suns
Utah Jazz

And these teams get the new two-year, $2.5 million exception, given to teams who use all their cap space to sign free agents (assuming they DO use that cap space):

Denver Nuggets
Golden State Warriors
Houston Rockets
Indiana Pacers
Los Angeles Clippers
New Jersey Nets
New Orleans Hornets
Sacramento Kings
Toronto Raptors
Washington Wizards

There is wiggle room in this last group depending on what each team does with their own Bird Rights free agents and where exactly they sit in relation to the cap. For example, should the Hornets use Bird Rights to re-sign David West for a deal starting at $9 million, they would have the MLE. If someone else signs West, they stay where they are.

http://www.hoopsworld.com/2011-nba-free-agency-diary/

[Biff Cooper]

There are a ton of creative things teams can do with cap room. Look at what OKC did with Nick Collison last year, using its cap room to pay a big chunk of his extension on last year's cap.

I'm wondering if we could do the same thing with Kevin Love, but I don't think it is allowed with rookie extensions. If I could get clarification on that point from someone I'd really appreciate it.

If we could, we might choose to amnesty Brad Miller and pay off 10,331,000 of Love's extension on this cap year, opening up 2 mil a year of cap room the next 5 years.

I did a little research on this and didn't figure out anything conclusive. My hunch is we could do this if we wanted.
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/22025/inside-collisons-unique-contract-extension
This article says "Signing bonuses in extensions are usually pro-rated through the life of the contract. Teams under the cap, though, can apply the entire signing bonus at the time the extension is signed, as long as the bonus doesn't exceed the available cap space." If this is correct, then I don't see why we couldn't do this.

Coon doesn't seem to address this under the cap situation in his topic on bonuses
http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q65

I would assume whatever could happen on the old CBA could happen on the new one. Don't see why they would change this one - unless they decide keeping the salary cap high should eliminate this provision.

[shrink]

There are a ton of creative things teams can do with cap room. Look at what OKC did with Nick Collison last year, using its cap room to pay a big chunk of his extension on last year's cap.

I'm wondering if we could do the same thing with Kevin Love, but I don't think it is allowed with rookie extensions. If I could get clarification on that point from someone I'd really appreciate it.

If we could, we might choose to amnesty Brad Miller and pay off 10,331,000 of Love's extension on this cap year, opening up 2 mil a year of cap room the next 5 years.

I think there is a great chance that we will be going over the cap in the year that we would start making those payments, so it's an interesting question.

I was happy to see OKC exhibit a little creativity in the Collison contract because I don't think we see enough imagination from many front offices and agents. Personally, if we're thinking "signing bonus," I think we should consider CHI's plan of offering a bigger amount up front and then be on a declining contract. For most older players, this not only helps maintain a team's net cap space, but it keeps salaries more in line with what a player's value is.

Take Iguodala for example. I don't see it, but because he'd be a good fit, some people think he is worth his $12,345,250 salary. OK, even if he is, what's he going to be worth next year? His game is unlikely to improve. Worse, every player has a chance of an injury that would decrease his value, and that increases over time. So even if he we agreed to overpay him a little bit now, that becomes more over the entire four years - over $22 mil in overpay.

Contract ... Expected Value ........ Difference
12,345,250 .. 9,000,000 ............. -3,345,250
13,531,750 .. 8,800,000 ............. -4,731,750
14,718,250 .. 8,500,000 ............. -6,218,250
15,904,750 .. 8,000,000 ............. -7,904,750

I think we should see more contracts for players like this that decline, not give raises. In a league with guaranteed contracts, it's the team that assumes the risk of injury. Declining deals help fix cap space issues, and they keep player trade values closer to market. It's more expensive for the team to put the money in the hands up front, but I think the other benefits may outweigh those issues in many cases.

[shrink]

Kevin Love is a different story. He may, and probably will, improve as a player, and his improvement will likely be greater than his chance of injury. That means he will become a more valuable player by the end of the contract than he is now.

However, as an RFA, we really are not competing with anyone else for his services. The rules let the initial team make an offer a full year in advance of anyone else. It's a crazy-town move for Love to refuse a decent extension now, because it's too dangerous for a player to choose to play a full extra year under the qualifying offer, and risk an injury that would keep him from his first big pay-day contract. The fact that we see superstars leave their teams in year's 6 and 7 is no coincidence.

Anyway, I would contend that it may still be in both of our best interest to give Love a declining deal. Let's say we decide we want to give Love a 4 year, $50 mil deal. Most deals would be structured like this:

11 + 12 + 13 + 14

Love would get more value if he had more money upfront

14 + 13 + 12 + 11

He can invest the extra $3 mil and make more money. For the team, it costs more in the net present value of money, but it would only enhance Love's value as a player. Using the Iguodala example for Love:

Contract ... Expected Value ....... Difference
14,000,000 .. 11,000,000 ........... -3,000,000
13,000,000 .. 12,000,000 ........... -1,000,000
12,000,000 .. 13,000,000 ........... +1,000,000
11,000,000 .. 14,000,000 ........... +3,000,000

For Love specifically, this may be a good choice too, because there is still a question whether he will ever be a #1, or one of the best complimentary players ever. We will probably know in three years, but if he's on a contract with raises, his salary may not match a potential #2 player, and he would become a bad contract. He also gets the max (at least initially), which would be a nice bonus. However, he may say no because it may keep his price down for his next contract - which starts at a per cent raise (7.5% us, 4.5% others) on his final year of this one.

I think declining contracts would work especially well when we make offers for free agents. Since MIN is not a destination, giving more money upfront would help us get a leg up on more traditional offers, and minimize our potential downside three years in the future. While there are limits on how much a raise a player can get each year, there are no limits on how far it could decline, so a deal for a decent FA of 8 - 4 - 3 is going to trump 4 - 5 - 6 for almost any free agent.

[younggunsmn]

I see that I had the Celtics wrong (specifically I had Glen Davis as signed to his cap hold instead of a Free Agent).
Here are the correct numbers for the Celtics:

Max Cap Room:: -10,042,672

Max Cap w/amnesty: -4,290,076
Jermaine O'Neal 6,226,200

Cap Room w/ likely FA's: -25,935,502
Jeff Green 11,139,970
Glen Davis 5,700,008

They will indeed get the full MLE, hoopsworld was correct.

[younggunsmn]

I want to thank Wyn again for all his hard work.
I didn't have the link to his new database.
Most reliable salary info on the internet.
His cap holds for rookies and most free agents haven't yet been changed to reflect the new CBA.

I really liked what OKC did with the collison contract (even if they overpaid him).

Shrink, I agree about declining contracts. Unfortunately, the Players' Association strongly discourages it, especially for fringe max players like Kevin Love. Partly because it sets a bad precedent, partly because if you are a max player you will be eligible for a much bigger raise when your existing contract runs out if you take an increasing raise contract. It's one thing to get a Hinrich or Nocioni to agree to take a declining contract, it's another to get Kevin Love.
Kahn did this a little with Ridnour's contract to max out our cap space for this year. His 4 year deal breaks down like this:
4,000,000
3,680,000 (2011-12)
4,000,000
4,320,000
I have to give Kahn props for both this, and signing Ridnour for 4 yrs/16 mil, which is a bargain for a top-notch backup PG.

We are able to offer Kevin Love an extension starting at a max of 13,603,750, totaling 5 years and 79,015,899, should we designate him as our rookie max extension player. In other words, if we don't offer the max, we can only offer him a 4 year extension.
This 5 year extension would average 15,803,180 per year.

With this yearly breakdown:
13,603,750 14,624,031 15,720,834 16,899,896 18,167,388

If we only offer him a 4 year max (with a player option for 4th year),
we can offer him a total of 60,848,511 (with the same yearly breakdown),
or an average of 15,212,128. This also allows him to become a free agent in his 7th year.
If he is interested in signing an extension, this is probably going to be his agent's starting point.

If he hits restricted free agency, he would be eligible to sign with another team for a max contract of 4 years and 58,199,443 (14,549,861 on average). If he has a similiar year to last year, it's really hard to see him not getting that on the open market.

It is a big risk to be willing to wait 2 years to become an unrestricted FA.
Love also strikes me as the kind of guy where winning is more important than money,
and you couldn't blame him for being leery of re-signing with a team that won 32 games over the past 2 years. That said, while he might not be worth the max, it is also dangerous to lowball him right off the bat if his agent says he's willing to talk extension.

LaMarcus Aldridge signed a below-max extension, which has 4 years and 56 million remaining, which is not considered a bad deal. Love has a similiar level of bargaining power, and I think it's foolish to think he will get any less than what Aldridge has remaining. He also will be able to demand a "premium" for re-signing with such a crappy team.

I think in the end Love gets a 4 year max deal with the 4th year being a player option.
so, 4 years and 60,848,511.
He would be eligible for a signing bonus of up to 12,163,702 on such a deal. If we amnesty Miller we can possibly use up to 10,311,000 to absorb the signing bonus on this year's cap. That leaves only 50,500,000 to spread over the 4 years of the deal.

I think maybe we throw a couple of big offer sheets at a couple of restricted free agents, (Jordan/Afflalo/Gasol?), and if we can't get anyone to bite we try to extend Love and write off his signing bonus on this year's cap.

I think in the future you might see a lot of teams do this, especially teams that will have a hard time meeting the minimum team salary requirement.

[Narf]

If we need more cap space, Sacramento would happily take $2 mil and Webster for a protected 2nd round pick. They'd be closer to the minimum and they'd be happy to have a young veteran on the wings.

I still think Webster will be a solid player for us next year though, so if we don't have a big free agent target I'm happy to keep him.

[shrink]

I would love it youngguns if you'd take your research one step farther and include amnesty candidates, so we'd have a view of who's starting off with cap space, and who's available in the amnesty draft.

I know it increases the number of assumptions (who will a team bring back, who's gone, whether they would grab someone from regular free agency vs amnesty free agency), but it'd be nice to see a rough snapshot before the process begins.

[jscott]

I think declining contracts would work especially well when we make offers for free agents. Since MIN is not a destination, giving more money upfront would help us get a leg up on more traditional offers, and minimize our potential downside three years in the future. While there are limits on how much a raise a player can get each year, there are no limits on how far it could decline, so a deal for a decent FA of 8 - 4 - 3 is going to trump 4 - 5 - 6 for almost any free agent.

shrink, this is exactly what I was thinking.

You could front load a contract without % restrictions except for the 1st year maximum (30%) and if a play is that good they may want all of the money anyway. It would work well for those very good starter not superstar type player like Ryan Mathews in Portland.

Also to whoever mentioned skipping the LLE but basically locking Malcolm Lee up in a slightly larger contract with team options I think that's brilliant - if you like Lee. I don't know anything about the guy but if you do like him (or any 2nd rounder) and you can gain some control over his 1st extension you absolutely should especially for such a nominal price.