Regarding the CBA and Rookie Scale

[ss1986v2]

can anyone here translate this into laymans terms? id ask more, but id rather have a better grasp of what this means first.

http://www.nbpa.com/cba_articles/article-VIII.php

Section 2. Rookie Contracts for Later-Signed First Round Picks.

Except as provided in Section 3 below, a First Round Pick who does not sign with the Team that holds his draft rights for any portion of the three (3) Seasons following the NBA Draft in which he was selected (and who did not play intercollegiate basketball during such period) may enter into either (a) a Rookie Scale Contract in accordance with Section 1 above, or (b) if the Team has Room in excess of the applicable first-year Rookie Scale Amount, a Contract covering no fewer than three (3) Seasons that provides for Salary plus Unlikely Bonuses in the first Salary Cap Year up to the amount of the Team’s Room and increases or decreases in Salary and Unlikely Bonuses in subsequent Salary Cap Years in accordance with Article VII, Section 5(c)(1).

[Three34]

I think we had this before once. If you draft someone in the first round, then don't sign them to a rookie scale contract for three years, you can either sign them to a scale contract still, or you can sign them for a bigger contract if you have sufficient cap room. That Splitter dream is alive!

[Joana]

I think we had this before once. If you draft someone in the first round, then don't sign them to a rookie scale contract for three years, you can either sign them to a scale contract still, or you can sign them for a bigger contract if you have sufficient cap room. That Splitter dream is alive!

Yeps. You don't need do be under the cap, you can use the exceptions to sign those players. In 2010, the Spurs can offer more than the rookie scale salary to Splitter (and that's why he has an opt-out option in his current contract with Baskonia for that off-season...).

[Dunkenstein]

I think we had this before once. If you draft someone in the first round, then don't sign them to a rookie scale contract for three years, you can either sign them to a scale contract still, or you can sign them for a bigger contract if you have sufficient cap room. That Splitter dream is alive!

Yeps. You don't need do be under the cap, you can use the exceptions to sign those players. In 2010, the Spurs can offer more than the rookie scale salary to Splitter (and that's why he has an opt-out option in his current contract with Baskonia for that off-season...).

Joana, could you please show us where in the CBA it says you can use an exception rather than cap room to sign a first round pick who was drafted at least three years prior to his signing. I can't seem to find anywhere in the CBA where it says a team can use anything but cap room.

[Three34]

The conclusion we drew from the last time we had this discussion (may have been about Rudy Fernandez) was that, when the CBA says "cap room", it really does mean cap room only, and not the MLE or anything else. I don't know if we got that finalised, but that was the consensus at least.

[Joana]

The conclusion we drew from the last time we had this discussion (may have been about Rudy Fernandez) was that, when the CBA says "cap room", it really does mean cap room only, and not the MLE or anything else. I don't know if we got that finalised, but that was the consensus at least.

Joana, could you please show us where in the CBA it says you can use an exception rather than cap room to sign a first round pick who was drafted at least three years prior to his signing. I can't seem to find anywhere in the CBA where it says a team can use anything but cap room.

In the CBA the expression "cap room" isn't used exclusively for cap space:

http://www.nbpa.com/cba_articles/article-I.php#ddd

(eee) “Room” means the extent to which: (i) a Team’s then-current Team Salary is less than the Salary Cap; or (ii) a Team is entitled to use one of the Salary Cap Exceptions set forth in Article VII, Section 6(c), (d), (e) and (h) (Disabled Player, Bi-annual, Mid-Level Salary and Traded Player Exceptions).

[Dunkenstein]

Joana, thank you for clearing that up for me.

[FGump]

The conclusion we drew from the last time we had this discussion (may have been about Rudy Fernandez) was that, when the CBA says "cap room", it really does mean cap room only, and not the MLE or anything else. I don't know if we got that finalised, but that was the consensus at least.

It was indeed the R Fernandez discussion last summer. But ....

Actually we eventually concluded (after looking at the rules) that Room in this context could include any of the following: cap room, MLE, or DPE.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=779719&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15

[Three34]

Well there you go then. Everyone's a winner.