Posted: Sun Jul 11, 2021 12:52 pm Post subject: Lakers Salary Cap / CBA Q&A (please see pg 19 for NEW Updated 2024 Version)
Please see page 18 for 2024 OFFSZN Primer & pages 13 thru 17 for new CBA details & transition dates
I hope all the cap heads on LG and any that are casual enthusiasts or looking to be inquisitive can congregate here to ask and help answer common questions that I’m sure we’ll all be asking once the draft kicks off this summer. This post is intended for those wondering about the wonderful mechanics of constructing a team. Questions have been sporadically asked and answered throughout this forum by a lot of members, so I hope this can be more of an one stop shop for those that are curious in the minutiae of the CBA and how it affects the Lakers in particular.
I’ve seen a lot of proposals in the monster free agency thread and more than discussing the personnel of those trade proposals, I hope this thread is used on how practical such a proposal would be within the CBA constraints. So examples of trade proposals could obviously be used here, but it is my hope that we save the discussion of player personnel role/fit for another thread. Instead we can discuss here if a trade is viable with the CBA rules and what potential pitfalls/obstacles it could face before becoming a “done deal.” So LG members, please help me and each other get familiar.
‘21 Salary cap: 112.4m
Luxury tax threshold: 136.6m
Cap apron (aka hard cap): 142.8m
Incomplete roster charge (till 12 spots): 930k
Vet min: 1.7m cap hit (however, paid out differently than cap sheet depending on years of service) & up to 2 years in length with 5% escalators
BAE: 3.7m (we don’t have this exception this offseason) & up to 2 years in length with 5% annual escalators
Room exception: 5m (only available if we operate as a team w/cap space) & up to 2 years in length with 5% annual escalators
MiniMLE (tax payer exception): 5.9m & up to 3 years in length with 5% annual escalators
FullMLE (non-tax payer exception): 9.5m & up to 4 years in length with 5% annual escalators
‘21 NBA draft: July 29th
Qualifying offer for THT / Player Option for Trez deadline: July 31st
Free agency moratorium: August 2nd 3pm PT to August 6th 9am PT
How much cap space do we have if we trade/waive/renounce everyone so that our team salary is just Bron/AD?
Bron: 41.2m
AD: 35.4m
Deng dead money: 5m (in the final offseason of this god deng dead cap hit)
10 incomplete roster charges: 9.3m
= 21.5m in potential cap space with a traded player exception (TPE) of up to 31.2m if Kcp/Kuz/Marc/#22S&t’d were bundled together into some other team’s cap space with nothing but the TPE coming back our way + future conditional picks
What triggers a team to get hard capped at the apron?
-Use of fullMLE
-Use of BAE
-acquiring a S&t’d player during offseason
(Note: it is not the act of S&t’ing a player that triggers the hard cap; it’s only that a S&t’d player hits our cap sheet that triggers the hard cap; also acquiring a S&t’d player during the regular season and up to the trade deadline aka S&t-to-be-made ie S&t2bm, does not activate the hard cap; lastly any S&t during the summer possibly triggers BYC conditions, which will be further discussed below)
Is it likely we conduct a Draft day trade?
One can be agreed to in principle on or before draft day, but we cannot officially make a legal trade if our #22 pick is involved, until after we make the pick and the NBA draft concludes
What are the specifics involved in matching restricted free agent, THT’s, offer sheet?
-Timing: We have to first decide in offering him a qualifying offer (QO) of 1.9m or renouncing him to convert him into a non-bird unrestricted free agent (like we did to Jules in 2018). If we extend a QO, we will have 48 hours to match any opposing offer sheet he signs. For example, if THT agrees to another team’s offer sheet during the moratorium, then we will have till August 8th 9:01pm PT (48 hours after moratorium lifts) to match. However we cannot match the offer sheet of that particular team and trade him to that same team later in the season. That restriction lifts next summer however. If we are to conduct a S&t for RFA THT, he cannot sign an offer sheet with any team before he agrees to be part of that S&t deal structuring. So essentially this blocks an attempt where we try to trade him knowing that he already signed an offer sheet with someone else and are resistant in matching it. We can only construct a S&t with him as long as there are no outstanding offer sheets he has signed with other teams. Also he cannot sign our QO this summer in order to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) the following summer. Since he’s only played 2 years in the league and was a 2nd rounder, not a 1st rounder, he still would be a RFA of ours next season. having his full bird rights the following summer. Since he is a 2yr seasoned 2nd rounder, he would be a 3yr vet next summer and that still makes him our RFA. We can however rescind our QO to him this summer, renounce his early bird rights in order to make him our non-bird player and then offer him a 1yr 120% raise (ie 1.9m) as a non bird player to have his full bird rights the following summer, where we can offer him a far more lucrative deal to make it worth his while.
-Gilbert Arenas/Poison Pill Provision: teams with cap space are not allowed to “steal” our RFAs by giving an offer that will not allow us to match it since we would not have cap space. The GA provision allows us to match using his early bird rights (or with the MLE, if we did not have his early bird rights) by limiting the other team from offering no more than the fullMLE amount. However, the offer sheet will have a corrected cap amount in year 3 of the deal. So for example a team that has 15m in cap space can offer THT that amount annually for the life of his deal, but it will show up as the MLE amount in year 1 & 2, before taking a leap in year 3 to correct the amount the team intended to give THT, with an additional annual raise up to 4.5% in year 4 of the new deal. So a 4yr 60m deal for example would look like this:
Year 1: 9.5m (fullMLE amount)
Year 2: 10m (5% annual escalator)
Year 3: 19.8m (corrected amount for 15m per deal if not for GA provision)
Year 4: 20.7m (4.5% annual escalator)
This structure allows us to match using his early bird rights or using our fullMLE to match it, but then makes it a poison pill (PP) contract, since we don’t have 15m in cap space to match an offer sheet that has him starting at 15m per. This structure remains as is even if we trade THT at a later date where the new team will take in the PP deal. If we don’t match, the new team will have a normal looking structured contract where it is about 15m per year for the life of the contract.
What is base year compensation (BYC) and how does it impact S&ts?
When a capped out team uses early/full bird rights to keep their free agent on a greater than 120% raise from his previous deal, the player is considered BYC and for S&t purposes, only counts as 50% of his new deal or his full previous annual as outgoing salary, but is seen as the full amount of his new deal as incoming salary for his new team. For example, Schro made 16m last season and if he signs a new deal where he’s paid 20m annually (>120% of previous deal) then his outgoing amount will be 16m, while his new team will see him as 20m in incoming salary. This structure is what complicates salary matching/aggregation in these particular S&ts. Also note that S&t deals have to be a minimum of 3 years long, with only the first year of the deal having to be fully guaranteed.
Can you use any type of MLE in a S&t?
No you cannot. So for example, Drummond is a non bird player with us, so we are limited in how much we can offer him in a new deal. We can bypass this restriction by offering him our fullMLE (which hard caps us) or miniMLE (which does not hard cap us), but if we do, we cannot use it as part of a S&t transaction. Once the season begins and as we approach the trade deadline, the MLE player can be traded, but again they are not allowed to be signed with the MLE and then immediately moved during the summer before the season starts.
What are the maxes we can offer each of our free agents?
-Schro (full bird rights up to 30% max): 33.7m and up to 5 years w/ 8% annual escalators
-Caruso (full bird rights up to 25% max): 28.1m and up to 5 years w/ 8%
-THT (early bird rights up to 175% of previous deal or 105% of previous year’s league average of 10m): 10.5m and it has to be a minimum of 2 years & up to 4 years w/ 8%; if we renounce him and make him a non-bird player with the intention to make him our full bird player next summer, then we can offer him up to 1.9m for an expiring 1yr deal
-Kieff (early bird rights): 10.5m, 2 yrs up to 4yrs, 8%
-Dudz (early bird rights): 10.5m, 2 yrs up to 4yrs, 8%
-Trez (non bird rights if he opts out of PO): 11.2m, up to 4 yrs, 5%
-Wes (non bird rights up to 120% of previous deal): 4.3m, up to 4 yrs, 5%
-Drummond (non bird rights): 2.8m, up to 4 yrs, 5%
-McLemore (non bird rights): 2.8m, up to 4 yrs, 5%
-Any S&t’d player: up to their respective max in year 1, 3 years minimum and up to 4 years in length, only 1st year needs to be fully guaranteed, 5%
-#22 pick or any pick we trade for that matter: up to 120% of rookie scale contract and in the case of #22, it can be up to 2.5m in year 1 of his deal
Do any players have no-trade clauses (NTC) to void any deal they may be a part of?
Any player on a new 1 year expiring deal that is working on their early bird or full bird rights with that team has a built in NTC into their deal. If Trez opts out and signs another 2 year deal with a Player/team option on the 2nd year, he has a de facto expiring 1 year bird restriction deal and has a NTC built in. If our other current non-bird players like Wes, McLemore & Drummond and our current early bird players like Dudz & Kieff get similar 1 year bird restriction deals, then they too will all have NTCs built in. THT will also have a NTC built into his 1yr QO, if he bypasses on a multi-year new deal.
What future picks do we still have left to offer?
Stepien rule states you can trade future picks up to 7 years in advance and you must be left with one pick every 2 years ie can’t trade future picks in consecutive years. So in terms of current future 1st round picks, we only have control of sending either our 2027 or 2028 1st round pick and also being able to set up pick swaps for 2026 and either 2027 or 2028 depending on which pick we decide to trade as an unconditional future pick. We can trade our 2021 1st rounder ie #22 after the draft concludes (and not a moment sooner). We can have that player’s salary aggregate into a trade at up to 2.5m (120% of rookie scale), if we wait 1 month after the draft to consummate the trade package that involves the signed pick. Otherwise as an unsigned pick, we can only trade his rights and that carries $0 in salary value. As for future 2nd round picks, we still have our 2023, 2024, 2025, 2027 and 2028 that we can offer in any potential trade. It is important to note that we can get some of our future 1st round pick control back if we get on the phone with the Pels and amend the deferment conditions they currently have. For example, they have the option to defer our 2024 1st to our 2025 1st. This indirectly impacts if we can trade our 2026 1st in any future trade talks because if the Pels defer to our 2025 1st, we are not allowed to trade our 2026 1st since we would be left without a pick in consecutive years 2025 & 2026). So if we remove the deferment option and make them stick to our 2024 1st, we owe them our unprotected 2022 and 2024 1sts with a 2023 1st pick swap. That means we can now add our 2026 & 2028 1st round picks along with a 2027 1st round pick swap to our current draft chest in future trade discussions.
I sincerely hope that covers most of the prudent talking points as we head into the offseason. I hope more members can elaborate, correct and contribute to this discussion as we head into next year with hopefully a more robust and impactful roster. _________________ Not familiar with the salary cap/CBA rules & how it impacts our Lakers?
#GetFamiliar by CLICKING HERE!
Last edited by vasashi17+ on Wed Jul 10, 2024 9:57 am; edited 30 times in total
Do any players have no-trade clauses (NTC) to void any deal they may be a part of?
Any player on a 1 year expiring deal that is working on their early bird or full bird rights with that team has a built in NTC into their deal. For example, if Trez opts in, he has a NTC. If Trez opts out and signs another 2 year deal with a PO on the 2nd year, he has a de facto expiring 1 year deal again and has a NTC built in.
Nice work Vas!
I could be wrong, but I'm not sure Trez would have trade veto if he opted in. There's a difference between signing a one year deal, and being on a contract with only one year left. If he opts in, he's essentially just in the second year of a two year deal. It definitely is correct that if he opted out and did a 1+1, he would have trade veto power.
At any rate, he isn't opting in without a clear agreement with the Lakers about where he ends up (via Klutch). So in effect, he has trade clout either way. _________________ Los Angeles Lakers Leadership: Jeanie Buss, Robert Pelinka, Kurt Rambis, LeBron James, Rich Paul.
Just thought I'd put this here as there was some confusion on the big thread
Quote:
A player who re-signs with his previous team on a one-year contract – or a two-year deal with an option year – is given no-trade protection. So is a player who signs an offer sheet and has that offer matched by his previous team. Players who accept one-year qualifying offers after their rookie contracts expire also receive veto power.
Some read that as being for re-signed players only.
Is there another clause in the CBA that mentions this? Or is the statement just written poorly and the ntc is given to any player that signs a 1+1? _________________ 💜💛 🏆 👀 🍖 #18!!!
LF and epic: thanks for pointing out the error and check out my edit. Trez opting in does NOT give him a NTC. If he opts out and signs another 2 year deal with an option (player or team) on the 2nd year, he will have a NTC. Of course if he signs just a 1 year deal, it still applies. And that application goes for all our current non/early bird players as well: Wes, McLemore, Drummond, Dudz, Kieff & THT (only if he accepts 1yr QO and elects to become an UFA next summer). Sorry for the confusion you guys.
CC: Not in my wildest dreams haha. I plagiarize “his bible” all the time.
Sorry for passing that bad info around. NTC applies to Trez if he opts out and signs another 1 yr deal with us. Pls see my edit above.
But let’s say he opts in, that’s a plus for us since that 9.7m aggregated sure would help grease bigger trades thru. Also we have about 5.8m in cash that we can always throw in any trade. Maybe we can talk Rich/Trez and our trading partner to having dude opt in and then following it up with the receiving team using the 5.8m in cash to buy him out.
It would be dead cap for the team we trade with, but it would only be for this year unless they elect to stretch it to a 3 yr hit instead. Then when Trez signs with another team, his new salary (if not the min) can be used to “set-off” the cap hit for that team.
Why Trez would do it is cause he gets paid essentially two MLEs this year if he gets another team’s 9.5m within this scenario.
I see Sexton making the Laker rounds...something like:
Kuz/Trez/THT(BYC)/#22(S&t)/5.8m cash for Sexton/Love
...works and we already know Rob works well with Koby.
Is it possible to gain cap space so that we can target unrestricted/restricted free agents?
TL;dr: yes
But it’s going to take a whole lot to gain that cap space and we have to time it right so that we aren’t just needlessly dumping salary. Also if we gain cap space, we lose the use of the MLE and instead have only the room exception (~5m) as an additional cap tool.
So why would we consider this? To avoid the hard cap since we can sign a FA outright, instead of having them sent to us via S&t.
Let’s say we renounce our own FAs to create an offer sheet for a RFA (say like Zo), and the other team (Pels) decide to match the offer sheet, then we can regain the bird rights we renounced in making room for that offer sheet. However if they don’t match and we bring Zo on board, then we cannot regain our bird rights for players we renounced. This obviously prevents us from creating cap space to go get a FA and then once we exhaust our cap space, we offer bird contracts to our free agents as a capped out team.
So assuming we find a cap having team that is willing to take on Kcp/Kuz/Marc/#22 for a 28.7m TPE & possibly a future protected pick. We then waive Mckinnie’s nonguaranteed deal, watch Trez opt out and renounce everybody except THT’s 1.9m QO. Books look like this:
Bron 41.1m
AD 35.4m
TPE 28.7m
Deng 5m
THT 1.9m
9 IR charge 8.4m
= 120.5m in team salary meaning we’re capped out with that TPE. So when we renounce it, we get back roughly 21m in cap space to offer Zo.
If Pels match, all our FA bird rights come back onto the books along with their associated cap holds. Down side is we traded actual assets for a 28.7m TPE. But it’s not a bad little piece to have for later. We can still even S&t Schro for an additional 16m TPE.
And if the Pels don’t match, we get Zo. We get to match whatever offer THT gets and we get to possibly keep AC by talking him into the 5m room exception. This is all contingent on timing it right in pertaining to THT and Zo’s RFA 48 hr match window as well as clearing enough salary to make 20m in cap space to even offer Zo or any other free agent that amount.
There are obviously other scenarios where we pick up different values of TPEs only to renounce them to create cap space, but that is a necessary evil. You cannot keep your TPE if you use cap space. We could keep the TPE if we created it by operating above the cap, but that only pertains to our FA capholds like Schro since you would have to get off of Kcp/Kuz’s deal to create cap space in the first place.
Scenario 1: operate as a cap having team with roughly 20m in space
Pros:
-no incoming S&t’d player required, meaning no hard cap at the apron
-only have to deal with free agent and don’t need to incentivize another team to send that FA to us via S&t
-no hard cap allows you to match any offer sheet given to RFA THT
-still get a room exception in the amount of 5m
-can use as many vet min exceptions necessary to round out the roster and you can even offer them a guaranteed 2 yr deal to help increase their bags further (like we did with Marc last offseason)
-can hand out offer sheet to RFAs and if the opposing team matches our offer, we still get our bird rights FAs back on our books even though we renounced them to gain cap space to make a RFA offer
Cons:
-have to shed the guaranteed salaries of Kuz, KCP & Marc to gain that 20m in potential cap space; and if our RFA target is kept by his team, we would have traded those guys for a TPE that we need to renounce anyway. Hopefully we dump their deals to a team that can give us future draft capital in return
-have to waive McKinnie’s nonguaranteed deal and trade the #22 for a future pick to maximize the amount of space necessary to sign a top flight FA
-will lose the bird rights of AC, Shroe and our other FAs, however AC can be talked into accepting the room exception on a 1yr stop gap deal and still have full bird rights next summer
-lose Schro for nothing, since you can’t S&t him for a TPE since renouncing his rights was a necessity for cap space
Scenario 2: capped out team that will be hard capped if targeting players that can only arrive via S&t
Pros:
-do not lose bird rights of our FAs and can S&t them away for potentially large TPEs that can be used at a later date
-have a choice to access fullMLE of 9.5m (and get hard capped) or the miniMLE of 5.9m (and avoid being hard capped)
-can still make trades for players on existing deals and will avoid being hard capped
Cons:
-if hard capped, we may not be able to use any potential TPEs gained since they do not prorate over the course of the season and there might not be enough wiggle to acquire a player with it
-if hard capped, we can not freely offer large deals to our FAs and may lose them to the opposition
-need to deal with our free agents and other teams to cooperate to get value back for a S&t we set up, so that we don’t lose assets for nothing in return; ie we’re not in full control of these potential assets
-may have to pay large amounts in taxes if we are not hard capped and maybe ownership won’t be on board with that
Anyways, I’ll keep adding CBA points in this thread when they become applicable to our particular situation as the offseason progresses (ie like is a S&t for Zo worth being hard capped for? Can we bring him on without triggering the hard cap?) I encourage others to contribute whatever they can to this discussion as well.
@Gov: 1st, you can’t combine TPEs or any exception for that matter. So we can’t add up a 28.7m TPE with a 16m TPE with a 9.5m fullMLE to give us a monster 55m+ exception to bring in a max player with. You cannot aggregate exceptions in this manner. Only player salary can be aggregated and combined. Also note that if we create cap space, by having our team salary dip below the salary cap (112.4m), then we lose any TPEs and MLE/BAE.
Think about it this way....If you create cap space, you can’t have a TPE exception on your books cause it will take up your space and make you a capped out team. You would have to renounce the TPE to use that cap space. Or you can keep the TPE on your books which takes up that space and use it to trade for a player later. You can’t have both cap space and a TPE since the TPE occupies that space. That is why they’re called “exceptions” cause they provide you the ability to use potential cap space above the salary cap, as a capped out team.
The only exceptions that don’t occupy potential space when you are below the salary cap are the room exception (5m) and vet min exceptions (1.7m). Every other exception (MLE, BAE, TPE, DPE) occupies space and therefore remain on the books when you’re above the salary cap. As a capped out team, you can use those tools as potential cap space...which is why they’re an “exception” to the rule.
So if we create cap space, the most we can create with Bron/AD/Deng/THT-QO on the books is about 20m. Any TPEs that were created, need to be renounced. Any free agent bird cap holds we have on our books need to be renounced. That is the only way to gain that cap space and that is the only way to go get another team’s free agent without them getting S&t’d to us which would then make us hard capped. If we want to avoid the hard cap, the only way to bring in a free agent this summer, is by creating cap space and it will only be a max of about 20m in cap space for that matter.
Sorry, it’s kind of a long response, but I really wanted to clarify and drive home that we cannot have cap space and massive TPEs at the same time. We will not be able to go below the salary cap and use 20m in cap space to go get a free agent, then turn around and also use the TPEs we created and have that to add even more players once we’re above the cap again. We can’t do both. It’s gotta be one or the other. No “exceptions”
@Gov: 1st, you can’t combine TPEs or any exception for that matter. So we can’t add up a 28.7m TPE with a 16m TPE with a 9.5m fullMLE to give us a monster 55m+ exception to bring in a max player with. You cannot aggregate exceptions in this manner. Only player salary can be aggregated and combined. Also note that if we create cap space, by having our team salary dip below the salary cap (112.4m), then we lose any TPEs and MLE/BAE.
Think about it this way....If you create cap space, you can’t have a TPE exception on your books cause it will take up your space and make you a capped out team. You would have to renounce the TPE to use that cap space. Or you can keep the TPE on your books which takes up that space and use it to trade for a player later. You can’t have both cap space and a TPE since the TPE occupies that space. That is why they’re called “exceptions” cause they provide you the ability to use potential cap space above the salary cap, as a capped out team.
The only exceptions that don’t occupy potential space when you are below the salary cap are the room exception (5m) and vet min exceptions (1.7m). Every other exception (MLE, BAE, TPE, DPE) occupies space and therefore remain on the books when you’re above the salary cap. As a capped out team, you can use those tools as potential cap space...which is why they’re an “exception” to the rule.
So if we create cap space, the most we can create with Bron/AD/Deng/THT-QO on the books is about 20m. Any TPEs that were created, need to be renounced. Any free agent bird cap holds we have on our books need to be renounced. That is the only way to gain that cap space and that is the only way to go get another team’s free agent without them getting S&t’d to us which would then make us hard capped. If we want to avoid the hard cap, the only way to bring in a free agent this summer, is by creating cap space and it will only be a max of about 20m in cap space for that matter.
Sorry, it’s kind of a long response, but I really wanted to clarify and drive home that we cannot have cap space and massive TPEs at the same time. We will not be able to go below the salary cap and use 20m in cap space to go get a free agent, then turn around and also use the TPEs we created and have that to add even more players once we’re above the cap again. We can’t do both. It’s gotta be one or the other. No “exceptions”
I’ve been seeing some misinterpretations made towards trade rules, so hopefully this next segment will clear it up...especially as we head into trade proposal szn. So let’s get to it...
I’ve been told that you cannot combine/aggregate a new S&t’d player contract with other existing player contracts to trade for a larger scaled player contract. Is this true?
No, it is not. You are able to your own free agents and construct S&ts using them along with existing contracts on your team’s payroll to aggregate in trading for a player making significantly more in salary. But when it comes to any S&t scenario, you have to be mindful of triggering BYC conditions (ie when you’re a capped out team setting up a S&t with your own early/full bird free agent where their new year 1 pay will be more than 120% of their previous year’s pay, then their outgoing salary will be either their previous year’s salary or 50% of their new starting pay, whichever is greater.
Per Coon’s CBA faq:
Quote:
For example, a player made $5 million last season, is a Larry Bird free agent, and re-signs with his previous team for $10 million. The team is a taxpayer, and therefore is over the cap following the signing. The signing is part of a sign-and-trade transaction for another team's $10 million player. Since the BYC conditions were satisfied the player's outgoing salary for the trade portion of this sign-and-trade transaction is $5 million. This trade therefore would not be allowed, even though the players' new salaries match, since a taxpaying team cannot trade a $5 million player for a $10 million player. The highest salary this team could acquire in a sign-and-trade arrangement is $6.35 million.
The sides also might be able to complete this trade if they both add additional salary to the transaction, or if they include a third team that is able to absorb excess salary.
As you can see above, Coon suggests adding additional contracts by each trade partner to make the S&t proposed deal work. So that should confirm that you can aggregate existing contracts to a pending S&t player to make a trade match up in salary, especially when BYC conditions are triggered.
The new rumor making rounds is Russ (or an opted in Cp3) for a S&t’d Schro/Kuz/S&t’d THT. A few things to consider: both Russ & a player opted in Cp3 will make 44.2m next year, so we need to send out a minimum of 35.3m to bring their deals onto our books. If we succeed, we will not be hardcapped since neither Russ or Cp3 will be S&t’d themselves under this particular scenario. Also notice that Spears rumor suggests that Schro and THT would be involved and both are free agents, so that should imply both could possibly be S&t’d to make the necessary salary aggregation work, cause THT’s QO would be too small (1.9m). However even if we increase THT’s new salary amount, will it work?
S&t’ing Schro triggers BYC conditions, when his salary exceeds past 19.2m (120% of previous year’s salary). We know Schro turned down an extension of 4yr/84m. So let’s assume he’s looking for something more than 19.2m and let’s settle in at 24m for this example. Since he is now considered BYC, his outgoing amount will be considered 16m.
S&t’ing THT triggers BYC if his new deal pays him more than the minimum (>1.8m). Since he is an early bird player, he can get paid up to 10.5m in a S&t from us. His deal would have to be 3 yrs minimum, but only the 1st year is fully guaranteed. If he does get that amount, he will be seen as 5.3m in outgoing salary due to being BYC.
Kuz is seen as 13m in outgoing salary if the deal is consummated after August 2nd...and it most likely will be if talks ever escalate past exploratory.
So Schro/Kuz/THT at those price points above would aggregate to 34.3m. We’re 1m short to deal for Russ/Cp3, so guaranteeing just 1m of McKinnie’s 1.9m deal should make it a legal trade. Remember, the Wiz or The Suns would be hardcapped with this trade, but we wouldn’t be.
Another thing I’ve seen in proposals is trades that bring in multiple salaried players from other teams who later get flipped immediately with our salaried players in a follow up trade. Is this allowed?
If we trade for multiple players using cap space to absorb their deals, then they can immediately be aggregated with other salaried players on our roster in a follow up deal. However, if we did not initially trade them into cap space, then they can only be immediately traded by themselves and cannot be rerouted in aggregation with other players. We would have to wait 2 months before we can aggregate those newly traded players from other teams with our own rostered players.
For example, let’s say Zo opts to sign his QO (14.4m) and becomes a 1yr deal where he consents on a trade to LA with his built in NTC. As a result he will lose his bird rights, but he gets to come back home. Let’s also assume that we want to trade for Adams and will take back the #10 as long as we send the Pels our #22. Let’s also assume Trez opts in and Adams 7.5% trade kicker is triggered. So the deal is:
Zo/Adams/#10 for Kcp/Trez/Marc/McKinnie (partially guaranteed)/#22/$760k to buyout & waive McK.
(Note: I’m not suggesting this particular trade and the names involved is a viable possibility. I’m just bringing up these particular contracts to show the mechanics of how a trade would work and what carries over after the initial trade is made)
Now since we were a cap strapped team, that trade was not done involving the absorption of contracts into cap space. So we can immediately reroute Adams by himself as 18.4m (7.5% trade kicker applied) in outgoing salary. We can immediately reroute Zo by himself with his consent of course (QO NTC still applies) as 14.4m in outgoing salary. We can even immediately reroute Zo/Adams together in a larger trade involving the Pels. But we would have to wait 2 months before we could reroute either or both along with Kuz's deal, for example.
Can we add cash to a trade and how much?
We can add up to 5.8m in outgoing cash and send it away throughout the multiple trades we possibly could make this coming season. Likewise, we can take in up to 5.8m in incoming cash via trades made throughout the season. For example, if Trez opts into his 9.7m, we can trade him away along with 5.8m in cash so that the receiving team can partially buy him out with it and either have a singular dead cap hit on their books for this year in the amount that remains or stretch that amount to even smaller cap hits among the next 3 years. In the meantime, once a Trez clears waivers, he is now a UFA that can seek out another deal (potentially another full MLE) to practically double up in what he gets paid this season. Obviously, he is restricted from resigning with us under this scenario. Also the team that traded for Trez and bought him out will see their dead cap hit have a “set-off” in the amount of half of the difference of Trez’s new deal from the vet min.
So to plug in numbers, let’s say Trez agrees to be bought out, but only gives back 1m to the team that traded for him. His dead cap hit would then be 8.7m on their books for this season or the team can elect to stretch it at a 2.9m cap hit for the next 3 seasons. The 5.8m that we sent the team means they really have to only be on the hook for 2.9m (5.8m + 1m he gave back for buyout) of Trez’s 9.7m deal. Let’s assume the cap hit the other team elects to go with is for the 1yr 8.7m cap hit. If Trez finds another team to offer him the fullMLE, then his set-off amount will be 3.9m (0.5 * (9.5m - 1.7m)). So the team that has his dead cap hit now only sees it as a 4.8m cap hit instead. Considering we greased this trade with 5.8m, technically the team would have made a 1m cash profit by allowing us to use their books to get off of Trez’s deal. Again, I’m not suggesting we dump Trez, but just using his contract to illustrate how traded cash could be in play for us this summer.
Also to note, we can trade cash for another team’s 2nd rounders before the draft this summer. That is a possibility seeing how we don’t presently have any 2nd round picks this summer and there is precedence in that Rob traded cash and our 2020 2nd to the Magic for their 2nd rounder (#46) in the 2019 draft, which ended up being THT.
Hope that clarifies some stuff for you guys in constructing your trade proposals.
Russ 44.2m
Kuz (post Aug 2nd) 13m
Kcp 13m
Trez 9.7m
Kuz/Kcp/Trez aggregated brings in at most 44.7m.
So that portion of the deal is technically done salary wise.
And since Kuz’s extension doesn’t kick in till the new season (Aug 3rd), this deal is not done and is pending.
What about Buddy?
So optics that we left Sac at the alter are not true. We can tag them in again for Buddy, but if it was just for Kuz/22, then some things need to still work out.
Buddy 23.1m
(he has 2.5m in “unlikely” incentives, which could possibly convert to “likely” if he’s traded to LA.)
So at least 18.4m to at most 20.4m in outgoing salary is necessary to get Buddy (depending on whether those “unlikely” incentives convert to “likely”. S&t’ing Schro at a starting of 19.2m (this amount does not trigger BYC conditions) can get that portion of the trade done salary wise. Also Schro turned down a 4yr/84m extension, so if he does accept a S&t starting at 19.2m, he gets to save face cause on a 4yr deal with 5% annual escalators, he gets that type of deal back in his bag.
Also it doesn’t matter if Schro goes to the Wiz, Sac or some mysterious 4th team, what matters is that on our part we send out enough salary to bring back both Russ/Bud’s salaries back. So with Russ already in the sack, when we get back on the phone with Sac, it’s with the expectation that we will be acquiring Russ/Bud’s potentially 69.8m (incentives included) in combined salary. Add that to Bron/AD/Deng’s 81.6m and we’re at 151.4m in team salary (some 8m over the cap apron).
So with Marc and McKinnie (fully guaranteed), rounding out the roster will be via using player rights (THT, AC, Dudz, Kieff, Wes, Drummond, McLemore, Cacok, Waiters), using the miniMLE of 6m and vet mins (930k - 2.7m based on years of service).
Jeanie better open up that check book, cause taxes are going to be insane for this season.
So wait, we’re not hard-capped then?
Yes we are not hard-capped with this pending Russ trade and potentially a follow up Buddy deal. Nor should we anticipate that we have the option to hard cap ourselves anymore. Bron/AD/Russ/Deng alone takes us to a team salary of 126m. So it’s safe to assume, we going to stay soft instead of limping towards the hard cap.
What about the #22?
If the Wiz get it (or any other team for that matter), we pick for them in secret and trade the rights of that player along with the rest of the trade pieces after the draft/moratorium concludes. If we need to aggregate the pick’s amount (up to 2.5m) for whatever reason, we need to wait 1 month to complete the trade once pen hits paper on the rookie’s deal. We can only officially trade the pick in tonight’s draft if we get another 1st round pick back in the deal. However we are restricted from being without a 1st round pick tonight.
And while we’re on the topic of the draft, we currently don’t have a 2nd round pick. We do have 5.6m in cash to trade for a pick however. This amount does not rollover to the next season tho. So starting August 3rd, we get a reset on the cash we can send out and that projected amount is 5.8m. This amount could potentially be included and used as buyout money for any deal that involves Trez/Marc/McKinnie. _________________ Not familiar with the salary cap/CBA rules & how it impacts our Lakers?
#GetFamiliar by CLICKING HERE!
Last edited by vasashi17+ on Thu Jul 29, 2021 3:12 pm; edited 1 time in total
Russ 44.2m
Kuz (post Aug 2nd) 13m
Kcp 13m
Trez 9.7m
Kuz/Kcp/Trez aggregated brings in at most 44.7m.
So that portion of the deal is technically done salary wise.
And since Kuz’s extension doesn’t kick in till the new season (Aug 3rd), this deal is not done and is pending.
What about Buddy?
So optics that we left Sac at the alter are not true. We can tag them in again for Buddy, but if it was just for Kuz/22, then some things need to still work out.
Buddy 23.1m
(he has 2.5m in “unlikely” incentives, which could possibly convert to “likely” if he’s traded to LA.)
So at least 18.4m to at most 20.4m in outgoing salary is necessary to get Buddy (depending on whether those “unlikely” incentives convert to “likely”. S&t’ing Schro at a starting of 19.2m (this amount does not trigger BYC conditions) can get that portion of the trade done salary wise. Also Schro turned down a 4yr/84m extension, so if he does accept a S&t starting at 19.2m, he gets to save face cause on a 4yr deal with 5% annual escalators, he gets that type of deal back in his bag.
Also it doesn’t matter if Schro goes to the Wiz, Sac or some mysterious 4th team, what matters is that on our part we send out enough salary to bring back both Russ/Bud’s salaries back. So with Russ already in the sack, when we get back on the phone with Sac, it’s with the expectation that we will be acquiring Russ/Bud’s potentially 69.8m (incentives included) in combined salary. Add that to Bron/AD/Deng’s 81.6m and we’re at 151.4m in team salary (some 8m over the cap apron).
So with Marc and McKinnie (fully guaranteed), rounding out the roster will be via using player rights (THT, AC, Dudz, Kieff, Wes, Drummond, McLemore, Cacok, Waiters), using the miniMLE of 6m and vet mins (930k - 2.7m based on years of service).
Jeanie better open up that check book, cause taxes are going to be insane for this season.
So wait, we’re not hard-capped then?
Yes we are not hard-capped with this pending Russ trade and potentially a follow up Buddy deal. Nor should we anticipate that we have the option to hard cap ourselves anymore. Bron/AD/Russ/Deng alone takes us to a team salary of 126m. So it’s safe to assume, we going to stay soft instead of limping towards the hard cap.
What about the #22?
If the Wiz get it (or any other team for that matter), we pick for them in secret and trade the rights of that player along with the rest of the trade pieces after the draft/moratorium concludes. If we need to aggregate the pick’s amount (up to 2.5m) for whatever reason, we need to wait 1 month to complete the trade once pen hits paper on the rookie’s deal. We can only officially trade the pick in tonight’s draft if we get another 1st round pick back in the deal. However we are restricted from being without a 1st round pick tonight.
And while we’re on the topic of the draft, we currently don’t have a 2nd round pick. We do have 5.6m in cash to trade for a pick however. This amount does not rollover to the next season tho. So starting August 3rd, we get a reset on the cash we can send out and that projected amount is 5.8m. This amount could potentially be included and used as buyout money for any deal that involves Trez/Marc/McKinnie.
I def see Jeannie opening that checkbook during the LeBron era.
Now that we’ve burned most of our assets for Brodie, what do we have left?
We have the option of trading either our 2027 or 2028 1st and additionally making either a swap option. Since we got the Wiz 2024 & 2028 2nd rounders, we have that to add to our 2023, 2024, 2025, 2027 & 2028 2nd rounders.
And that should do it in terms of draft capital and future assets. As for immediate assets, its S&T SZN...
Schro: max 19.2m out (not considered BYC)*; up to 24.1m in (ie Hield?)
AC: max 14.1m out (due to BYC of a 25% max deal ie 28m); up to 17.7m in
THT: max 5.3m out (due to BYC of a early bird deal ie 10.5m); up to 6.7m in
Wes: max 4.3m out (due to non-bird); up to 5.5m in
= potentially up to 54m in incoming salary via S&t; and up to 58.5m in potential salary that could be traded if you include Marc @2.7m and McKinnie @ 1.9m (via his deal being fully guaranteed)
*anything more than 19.2m in year 1 of Schro’s new deal will trigger BYC where his outgoing amount will be 16m for us, but the incoming amount for the receiving will be at whatever number he signs for; for example if he signs a 30m year1 deal, then his new team will see him as an incoming 30m player while he only aggregates to an outgoing amount of 16m for us; needless to say, BYC really mucks up potential trades
I highly doubt our other FAs can be used in S&ts due to lack of appeal at such trivial amounts and/or teams receiving them would be hard capped.
Lastly we have the 5.9 miniMLE exception that can be used entirely on one player or split up among 2-3 players. It cannot be used on one of our FAs as part of a S&t. You cannot use exceptions to S&t. Also if THT elects to sign another team’s offer sheet, we cannot match the offer and then trade him to that team. Once we match, he is restricted from being traded to that team for the remainder of this coming season and if we do trade him later this season, we’re going to need his consent. Also if THT does elect to sign another team’s offer sheet, he is no longer eligible to be part of any S&t this summer. _________________ Not familiar with the salary cap/CBA rules & how it impacts our Lakers?
#GetFamiliar by CLICKING HERE!
Can a pick that's swapped, be pick swapped again to another team?
Yep...for example 2023 1st is swapped with Pels. We can still include that pick swap in another trade where the pick we get is the lowest on the totem pole.
Pels get highest pick in 2023
Mystery team we trade with gets next highest in 2023
We get the lowest in 2023 _________________ Not familiar with the salary cap/CBA rules & how it impacts our Lakers?
#GetFamiliar by CLICKING HERE!
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