Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Amnesty Clause: Good for the league?
So by yesterday's 12 midnight deadline, 18 players were waived under the amnesty rule, but funny enough the player who was most synonymous with the rule, Allan Houston, wasn't one of them.
For those who don't know what the "Allan Houston rule" is, it's basically a new rule that was agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreements in which teams can get rid of players with huge contracts. And though they still have to pay the player for the remainder of their contract, the salary doesn't count towards the team's salary cap. Therefore teams can cut down or avoid the luxury tax penalties.
Players that were affected not only included former stars whose careers have stalled or regressed as a result of injury or otherwise(Michael Finley, Brian Grant, Derek Anderson), but also included recent retiree, Reggie Miller.
The rule which is a one-time rule for teams to take advantage of was a great idea for the NBA. I always thought it was a travesty that the Knicks still had Larry Johnson's salary count well after his retirement. Or Jayson Williams' franchise contract which he never honored due to injury, count towards the Nets yearly salary cap. The plus side to it is that teams who waive players cannot sign the same players until their pre-existing contracts have expired.
The way I see it, none of the players waived stands anything to lose. With the exception of Troy Bell, a young player in the league who had barely made his mark in the league but got released from his $1.5 million contract by the grizzlies, the players remain set for the remainder of their contracts or even life(let's hope they invested well or else....). and they are also free to sign with any other team and still get paid by the team signing them. The only thing that puzzles me is that the knicks chose to keep Allan Houston whose salary clearly hurts the team's cap and who hasn't played in over a season. Even when he played, he was coming off the bench. Instead they chose to let go of Jerome "junkyard dog" Williams, a player I think never got the playing time he needed to be effective on the team.
Posted below is an article listing the players affected by the Amenesty clause:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2134771
For those who don't know what the "Allan Houston rule" is, it's basically a new rule that was agreed upon in the collective bargaining agreements in which teams can get rid of players with huge contracts. And though they still have to pay the player for the remainder of their contract, the salary doesn't count towards the team's salary cap. Therefore teams can cut down or avoid the luxury tax penalties.
Players that were affected not only included former stars whose careers have stalled or regressed as a result of injury or otherwise(Michael Finley, Brian Grant, Derek Anderson), but also included recent retiree, Reggie Miller.
The rule which is a one-time rule for teams to take advantage of was a great idea for the NBA. I always thought it was a travesty that the Knicks still had Larry Johnson's salary count well after his retirement. Or Jayson Williams' franchise contract which he never honored due to injury, count towards the Nets yearly salary cap. The plus side to it is that teams who waive players cannot sign the same players until their pre-existing contracts have expired.
The way I see it, none of the players waived stands anything to lose. With the exception of Troy Bell, a young player in the league who had barely made his mark in the league but got released from his $1.5 million contract by the grizzlies, the players remain set for the remainder of their contracts or even life(let's hope they invested well or else....). and they are also free to sign with any other team and still get paid by the team signing them. The only thing that puzzles me is that the knicks chose to keep Allan Houston whose salary clearly hurts the team's cap and who hasn't played in over a season. Even when he played, he was coming off the bench. Instead they chose to let go of Jerome "junkyard dog" Williams, a player I think never got the playing time he needed to be effective on the team.
Posted below is an article listing the players affected by the Amenesty clause:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2134771
