Free Agency

Yeah, I just don't get it, no reason for the lockout with the shit they are doing. Of course I am not sure what the breakdown would be of big contracts for large vs small market teams.

 

the amnesty clause was originally designed to only affect the luxury tax, so it was purely cost savings. you paid the contract still, but you didn't pay the lux tax on it. it still counted towards your salary cap.

the new amnesty removes the player from your salary cap, so it's actually now a way to waste money. again, you still pay the contract, only now it frees up cap space as well so you can spend more.

it'd be interesting to see how much money is thrown away this offseason on players being cut to clear cap space for more contracts.

brand - $18 million
haywood - $27 million
darko - $7 million
scola - $21 million
blatche - $23 million
childress - $20 million

none of these moves saved the team money, they simply opened up the possibility to spend more. it's nuts.

throw in billups last year, too. he was amnestied to make room to go after tyson chandler.

 

Giving him a bigger contract actually helps match the salaries if Orlando holds onto Dwight until the Nets can trade those contracts in January. Plus, they needed to offer a high annual salary to get away with only two years on the deal.