Question related to G. Arenas Rule

[carayip]

A very good read, dboys, thanks!

The Knicks should really count themselves super lucky, not only did they find Lin but are able to keep him. See Gilbert Arenas...

[coyotes_geek]

3 - EB. Lin is not EB, since he will only have one consecutive season since his Bird clock started, when he hits free agency. It takes two. But Fields will be EB. For an EB player, his team is given an exception that is MLE sized (or less, if they wish), that they can use to sign him to a new deal. Those EB rights can be used to match RFA offers if the player is a RFA.

I've got a somewhat related question involving the Spurs and Danny Green. Understand that you need two seasons to earn EB rights and that the clock resets if you waive the player. Green has been on the Spurs for the whole 11-12 season, so there's one year. But in the 10-11 season, Green was cut in November 2010 (clock resets), but re-signed in March 2011 (clock restarts) for the last month of the 10-11 season. As far as determining EB rights go, do the Spurs get credit for a full year of service even though Green was only there for a month?

I guess I could have kept it short and just asked whether or not the Spurs will have EB rights on Green this offseason.

[DBoys]

Green's status will be like Fields ...RFA, Arenas, EB. Bird and EB allows the first season to count fully even if it's only the partial end of a season remaining when the player first signed and started the Bird clock.

[coyotes_geek]

Thanks!

[sportscrazy]

Okay so what about re-signing Novak, Fields AND Lin?

[DBoys]

Okay so what about re-signing Novak, Fields AND Lin?

It's a pretty simple bottom line, really.

A They have very little flexibility with Novak. They have no Bird/EB rights and no RFA control.

B They obviously won't be under the cap, so with Novak they would pick from one of the following exceptions:
1 Min Salary Exc
2 Non-Bird Veteran Exc (120% of prior season, which will be essentially same as min salary)
3 BAE (1.957M for up to 2 years) ...available as long as they don't exceed "tax + $4M"
[4 MLE ...in theory they could spend this on Novak, but presumably this will be reserved for matching offers for Lin, so won't be available for Novak]

C The big issue for them will be their overall spending. If they exceed "tax+$4M" they risk losing Lin because their MLE shrinks to 3M. So they won't pass that line, and that will be their Hard Cap on spending this summer. Where will the tax+4 line be? If the cap/tax line stays the same, it will be at about 74.3M which (if nothing else changes re their roster) would leave them about $10M total for all the spending they want to do on Lin, Fields, Novak, and Jeffries added together.

BOTTOM LINE: They have 10M to plan with. They have to create their priority list and then make the money go as far as it can. Lin can get 5M but no more. Fields also is limited to 5M. EITHER Novak or Jeffries can only get 1.957, and the other could get minimum or 120%. If the cap/tax has an increase, that will increase their pool of money by however much the increase is.

In round numbers, L 5 F 3 N2 would fit. (Or L5 F2 N2 J1.) The question becomes, what will the other teams offer?

Edited to add - - In the event that JR Smith declines his 2nd year, the available spending room goes up to about $12M. In that scenario, Lin will be able to get some or all of the 5M MLE, Fields will be able to get some or all of his 5M EB limit, either Novak or Jeffries (or some outsider, or no one) will get the 2M BAE, and Novak or Jeffries will get a minimum or 120% deal of about 1M. While that adds up to 13M rather than 12M, it's logical to assume that not all of those contracts will hit top dollar and perhaps one or more of the players aren't even in NY's plans.

[Three34]

For what it's worth, the so-called Arenas rule has never actually been used.

[Dunkenstein]

For what it's worth, the so-called Arenas rule has never actually been used.

But it does serve as a deterrent to teams from offering contracts larger than the league's average salary to players who fall under the rule's protection.

[Three34]

Perhaps. I think we've just seen a lack of realistic candidates, more than anything. High second rounders pretty much always get three year deals now. Carl Landry could have been one case but he didn't even get a full Mid-Level back in his free agency, nor even half of it.

[HartfordWhalers]

Perhaps. I think we've just seen a lack of realistic candidates, more than anything. High second rounders pretty much always get three year deals now. Carl Landry could have been one case but he didn't even get a full Mid-Level back in his free agency, nor even half of it.

I'm not sure anyone else would have offered it if they could, but Marcus Thornton had his home team make an offer above the MLE. Asik could be someone who a team really needing a center would have offered starting at 6m if not for the rule.

Agree that in general there certainly aren't many candidates.

[gelek]

Might have been asked already, but what is the exact wording in the new CBA in regards to the max salary allowed under the Arenas Rule? Is it the "average" salary or the MLE? Afaik under the new CBA the MLE is no longer the exact average but rather a negiotated threshold of 5M for 2012/13. I am fairly sure the MLE is intended to be enough but if the league really follows the CBA to the letter as is implied in the arbitration case for early bird right, the Knicks could end up being powerless to match an Arenas-Rule Offer because they only have 5M and not the imho 5.7ish that is the average salary...

[gelek]

Might have been asked already, but what is the exact wording in the new CBA in regards to the max salary allowed under the Arenas Rule? Is it the "average" salary or the MLE? Afaik under the new CBA the MLE is no longer the exact average but rather a negiotated threshold of 5M for 2012/13. I am fairly sure the MLE is intended to be enough but if the league really follows the CBA to the letter as is implied in the arbitration case for early bird right, the Knicks could end up being powerless to match an Arenas-Rule Offer because they only have 5M and not the imho 5.7ish that is the average salary...

Sorry for doublepost but found the answer in Larry Coons Faq, the Arenas-Rule doesn't talk about "average" salary but rather "Non-Taxpayer"-MLE so the Knicks would be able to keep Lin even if a team offered the max that they could as long as the Knicks keep their Non-Tax MLE even if the arbitration fails.

[DBoys]

It's the same wording used for the Arenas limit as for the full MLE and EB exception. They are designed and worded to be identical numbers.