questions on new amnesty

[DBoys]

What recourse, if any, does a player have if he is amnestied and then selected off waivers by a team for which he does not want to play? If he retires rather than reporting for duty with his new team, does he forfeit his entire salary, or just the portion for which his new team is responsible?

I feel confident that the player has no say. Being claimed off waivers is like a trade. And if he refused to report or play, he would undoubtedly forfeit all of his salary, because he would still be playing under his original contract as does every player claimed off of waivers.

The moral of the story: getting a big contract and then playing like a bum now has more consequences. It might motivate your team to put you on the amnesty heap and thereby force you to play in Siberia in order to get paid. You better do everything you can to play up to your deal if you don't want to have your neck on the chopping block.

[Curmudgeon]

So what if the player goes to the team that selected him, immediately demands a trade, and makes it publicly known that he does not want to be there? He doesn't do anything that would justify a fine, but he's not running through any walls, either. His agent, having previously asked the team not to select his client, makes it known that he will not recommend to any other client of his that a player sign with that team as a free agent.

Still think the player has "no say?"

[DBoys]

So what if the player goes to the team that selected him, immediately demands a trade, and makes it publicly known that he does not want to be there? He doesn't do anything that would justify a fine, but he's not running through any walls, either. His agent, having previously asked the team not to select his client, makes it known that he will not recommend to any other client of his that a player sign with that team as a free agent.

Still think the player has "no say?"

If a guy is scrubby enough to get amnestied, "demanding a trade" will be met with laughs and derision in the entire NBA universe. And 30 GMs will take note, when he's wanting to play for big money rather than pennies. Heck, he needs to be grateful that ANYONE wants him.

[Curmudgeon]

Would you put a player like Brandon Roy into this same "thankful that anyone picked him" category? Suppose his knees are so bad that he just wants to retire to avoid being a cripple for the rest of his life? So he has to hobble around for a few more years or risk losing millions?

[zami]

The high bidder gets the player for the term of the original contract. They pay their agreed amount each year & the original team pays the difference. The original contract and its terms are not changed.

If there is a team option for the last year. Which team has that option?

[turk3d]

Would you put a player like Brandon Roy into this same "thankful that anyone picked him" category? Suppose his knees are so bad that he just wants to retire to avoid being a cripple for the rest of his life? So he has to hobble around for a few more years or risk losing millions?

He needs the doctors to determine this and if they do, then he can just retire at full pay. If the team has an insurance policy, then they will pick up the tab. If a player has to retire because of injury, the team is stuck with the bill but once a final determination is made, typically the league will make some kind of roster adjustment for the team who owns the contract. May even allow them additional cap space to compensate for the unfortunate loss

[turk3d]

The high bidder gets the player for the term of the original contract. They pay their agreed amount each year & the original team pays the difference. The original contract and its terms are not changed.

If there is a team option for the last year. Which team has that option?

I believe it will be his new team.

[FNQ]

So what if the player goes to the team that selected him, immediately demands a trade, and makes it publicly known that he does not want to be there? He doesn't do anything that would justify a fine, but he's not running through any walls, either. His agent, having previously asked the team not to select his client, makes it known that he will not recommend to any other client of his that a player sign with that team as a free agent.

Still think the player has "no say?"

I think that does more damage to the agent than anyone. A guy who's amnestied trying to hand-select his next locale? Good luck with that. If I were a GM I'd go public too, and tell everyone that you offered him a 500k buyout to assist with his desires... ball's in your court, whiny player...

[shrink]

Is this an open auction, where everyone knows each other's bids, or a sealed auction?

Some think sealed auctions give higher return (3 people bid $2 mil, 1 bids $6, instead of $2.5), others think open auctions do better ("What? Carter got signed for $2 mil? I'd have bid $4!").

[JES12]

The high bidder gets the player for the term of the original contract. They pay their agreed amount each year & the original team pays the difference. The original contract and its terms are not changed.

If there is a team option for the last year. Which team has that option?

I believe it will be his new team.

That is a huge question that needs to be answered. As far as the first team is concerned, they want to decline that team option by the mere action of amnestying him. Team options and unguaranteed salary should be one of those fine prints where the amnestying team should have to pay no money at all that year.

[turk3d]

It stands to reason that when a player is amnestied it's his entire contract (his old team is out of the picture other than having to pay the difference between his original deal and the winning deal). The option (if there was one) would have to go to his new team since in essence they are picking up the players contract with his old team assisting in paying it (although it doesn't show up on the books for cap purposes). But you're right, that clearly needs to be spelled out.

[d-train]

The original team might not want to decline the option. In a case where the player is guaranteed $13M of a $15M contract and the bidding team is offering $5M for the player, the original team could potentially save $3M in salary liability if the option becomes fully guaranteed.

In this same hypothetical, if a bidding team has to inherit a $13M liability that would affect their bid and possibly their willingness to bid.

[DBoys]

If there is a team option for the last year. Which team has that option?

I believe it will be his new team.

That is a huge question that needs to be answered. As far as the first team is concerned, they want to decline that team option by the mere action of amnestying him. Team options and unguaranteed salary should be one of those fine prints where the amnestying team should have to pay no money at all that year.

It would have to be clarified by rule, but logically:
(a) the old (waiving) team has in essence waived that contract prior to the final year, thereby erasing the option, and
(b) the secondary claim rule could perhaps allow a transfer of that team option to the claiming team. But it would need to be with the provision that if the claiming team decides to exercise the option so that the player is kept that additional year, they (the claiming team) become obligated to pay all of it.

You would think the amnesty rules when written will also specify that partially guaranteed years also have special provisions to ensure fundamental fairness to the waiving team (where they don't get stuck paying for more than they otherwise would have), but we'll just have to wait and see what the rules say when they emerge.

[turk3d]

If there is a team option for the last year. Which team has that option?

I believe it will be his new team.

That is a huge question that needs to be answered. As far as the first team is concerned, they want to decline that team option by the mere action of amnestying him. Team options and unguaranteed salary should be one of those fine prints where the amnestying team should have to pay no money at all that year.

It would have to be clarified by rule, but logically:
(a) the old (waiving) team has in essence waived that contract prior to the final year, thereby erasing the option, and
(b) the secondary claim rule could perhaps allow a transfer of that team option to the claiming team. But it would need to be with the provision that if the claiming team decides to exercise the option so that the player is kept that additional year, they (the claiming team) become obligated to pay all of it.

You would think the amnesty rules when written will also specify that partially guaranteed years also have special provisions to ensure fundamental fairness to the waiving team (where they don't get stuck paying for more than they otherwise would have), but we'll just have to wait and see what the rules say when they emerge.

Probably could but very unlikely (makes things more complicated). I think that it will be pretty typical of any purchased contract, the buyer must assume all liabilities (as well as assets) and it's a done deal.

The team gets the players contract removed from their cap space which is what they receive (and that's all they need to get imo) in addition to (which I see as an added bonus) the possibility that they might not have to absorb the entire salary each year for the remainder of the players contract.

That's a definite plus over the previous amnesty clause. I realize that it's not yet cast in concrete but this seems to be most logical way it will work based on the details that we have received thus far.

[JES12]

Many clarifications here:
http://nba-point-forward.si.com/2011/12 ... on-emerge/

The main one for me is that you cannot trade for a player and then amnesty him.

[HartfordWhalers]

More details firming up, although not still finalized.

Hearing most likely scenario w/amnesty clause is teams getting seven-day window between Dec. 9-25 to use it or carry it into 2012 offseason

But the specific seven days during which teams will be able to amnesty player before THIS season, at last report, still being negotiated

http://twitter.com/#!/ESPNSteinLine

[turk3d]

Don't know whether this has been asked already, but can a player who'd picked up on amnesty waivers then be traded and if so, how long is the wait before the team that signs him if can trade that player? Could be a nice trade chip for a team to use for a player such as Billups who'd have a lot of value for a contending team and might keep him from not reporting.

[Curmudgeon]

LOL, let's see how much teeth this new blind waiver system has:

"Y! Sports: Chauncey Billups warns teams against claiming him off amnesty wire, wants freedom: "This is about me now." http://tinyurl.com/7duycsl"

[turk3d]

It probably works out if the team claiming him can trade him. Maybe get at least a pick or 2 in return.

[DBoys]

LOL, let's see how much teeth this new blind waiver system has:

"Y! Sports: Chauncey Billups warns teams against claiming him off amnesty wire, wants freedom: "This is about me now." http://tinyurl.com/7duycsl"

Apparently it has just as much "teeth" as the old waiver system, or the trade rules. Stern told Chauncey to shut up and go where he was told, and he did.