Incomplete roster cap hold. Plz help

ZKing23 · Post #1 » by **ZKing23** » Thu May 16, 2019 10:48 pm

Recently, I have been looking at the Lakers' salary situation. But I'm pretty confused with this incomplete roster cap hold thing.

Here is the thing. Lets look at the Lakers' salaries first.
LeBron James $37.44M
Lonzo Ball $8.72M
Brandon Ingram $7.27M
Moritz Wagner $2.06M
Kyle Kuzma $1.97M
Josh Hart $1.93M
Isaac Bonga $1.42M
4th Pick $7.06M
Incomplete Roster(4) $3.60M
Luol Deng $5.00M (Dead Money)
Total $76.46M

The salary cap is projected at $109M for 2019-20 season. So the lakers will have around $32.50M in cap space. That is $0.2M short of a max offer. However, as I learned, a player given offer is counted as a player in a roster. Therefore the incomplete roster spots should drop to 3 if the lakers make a offer to a player. My question is: Does the incomplete roster spots change at the same time as the Lakers make a offer? If it does, that means the lakers can make a max offer. If it changes after, then the lakers don't have a max to offer at the first place. I think this is important to Lakers' cap space and decision making. I tried to search for an answer but failed. That will be super helpful if anyone of you can answer this question. Thanks in advance.

DBoys · Post #2 » by **DBoys** » Thu May 16, 2019 11:03 pm

[edited for clarity] The NBA requires a team to fill up 13 slots, as a minimum. So the cap-room accounting requires the total of at least 12 slots to tell you the most you can pay the 13th guy. If you've "committed" to more than 12 slots already, you have to include ALL the numbers, not just the first 12. When you have less than 12 accounted for, you add a charge for an empty roster slot, to account for all 12. Total it all up, subtract from the cap, and that's how much you can spend on the next guy.

In this scenario, you can sign the next guy for about 32.5M (or less).

Then, for adding the guy after that, you calculate it again, and the guy you just signed is now filling one of the 12 slots. So if you had charges for empty roster slots before, now you will have one fewer.

In your scenario, if you just used all your available cap room of about 32.5M, your 13th guy is now doable for the amount of the just-released charge for an empty roster slot, which is the rookie minimum of $897,158.

ZKing23 · Post #3 » by **ZKing23** » Fri May 17, 2019 1:33 am

DBoys wrote:The cap accounting using 12 slots is designed to tell you the most you can pay the 13th guy. So the way it works is that in this scenario, you can sign the next guy for 32.5M or less. Then, for the guy after that, the guy you just signed is filling one of the 12 slots, and you will get to remove the charge for an empty roster slot.

Thank you for your reply. Is there any reference to it that I can use?

DBoys · Post #4 » by **DBoys** » Fri May 17, 2019 2:06 am

That's my personal "easiest way I can explain it in layman's terms" explanation based on years of personally doing this stuff, and trying to explain it as simply as possible from time to time.

I'm sure the FAQ ( cbafaq.com ) answers the questions correctly and with more detail, and you could go there if you wish. It's a very good resource. But it can be a bit more technical, and harder to follow as a result.

ZKing23 · Post #5 » by **ZKing23** » Fri May 17, 2019 5:55 am

DBoys wrote:That's my personal "easiest way I can explain it in layman's terms" explanation based on years of personally doing this stuff, and trying to explain it as simply as possible from time to time.

I'm sure the FAQ ( cbafaq.com ) answers the questions correctly and with more detail, and you could go there if you wish. It's a very good resource. But it can be a bit more technical, and harder to follow as a result.

Ok. Your explanation is simple and clear. Thanks again.

Killboard · Post #6 » by **Killboard** » Mon Jun 17, 2019 6:06 pm

DBoys wrote:which is the rookie minimum of $897,158.

Is the charge of a rookie minimum of $897,158 right?

Sincerily asking, Im not an expert, but the only players you can sign with that money are 2nd round picks.
If you go out and fill with any other minimum (undrafted rookies or G League rookies etc) the minimum amount is 1.4M.

Why the rookie minimum is used if not a single team can have minimum rookies at will? Thanks.

DBoys · Post #7 » by **DBoys** » Mon Jun 17, 2019 9:11 pm

If the cap lands at exactly 109M, then 897,158 is the number being projected. It varies based on the cap.

It's the minimum for players in their 1st NBA season, without exception. So that would include undrafted players, 2nd rounders, etc.