Charcoal Filtered wrote:For the Blazers to get relief from Miles contract, Miles would have to sign a contract that would prohibit him from playing for any other team for the remainder of his contract. It would be between him and the Blazers as to how they pay the remaining amount of his deal.
If Miles is not coming back and wanted to benefit financially, he could agree to the Blazers paying the remainder of this deal in full the day he signs the papers. The Blazers would then get luxury tax relief this year and next in addition to the 9M in cap space next offseason. Insurance would pay too. Definitely a win-win for both parties.
are you sure about that?...seems like in the discussion about the Francis buyout, it was determined that the only way a team can get cap-relief as far as the number of years left on a contract was if the contract had a player option for he last season.
from Larry Coon's FAQ:
53. How do retired players count against the cap?
Any money paid to a player is included in team salary, even if the player has retired. For example, James Worthy retired in 1994, two years before his contract ended. He continued to receive his salary for the 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, so his salary was included in the Lakers' team salary in those seasons. It is at the team's discretion (or as the result of an agreement between the team and player) whether to continue to pay the player after he has retired.
There is one exception whereby a player can continue to receive his salary, but the salary is not included in the team's team salary. This is when a player is forced to retire for medical reasons and a league-appointed physician confirms that he is medically unfit to continue playing. There is a waiting period of one year following the injury or illness before a team can apply for this salary cap relief. If the waiting period expires mid-season (on any date prior to the last day of the regular season), then the player's entire salary for that season is removed from the team's team salary. For example, in March 2003 the Knicks were allowed to remove Luc Longley's entire 2002-03 salary from their books (and since the luxury tax is based on the team salary as of the last day of the regular season, the Knicks avoided paying any tax on Longley's salary). This provision can also be used when a player dies while under contract.
Teams are not allowed to trade for disabled players and then apply for this salary cap relief. Only the team for which the player was playing when he was disabled may request this relief.
If a player retires, even for medical reasons, his team does not receive a salary cap exception to acquire a replacement player.
It appears that if Miles simply retires, portland would get luxury tax relief, but the terms of his signed contract will still apply to Portland's salary cap.
As far as 'renegotiating' he contract, which is what you imply could be the case, there is some language in the FAQ on that:
52. Can existing contracts be renegotiated?
A contract for four or more seasons can be renegotiated after the third anniversary of its signing, extension, or renegotiation that increased any season's salary by more than 8%. Contracts for fewer than four seasons cannot be renegotiated. A contract cannot be renegotiated between March 1 and June 30 of any year. Only teams under the cap can renegotiate a contract, and the salary in the then-current season can be increased only to the extent that the team has room under the cap. Raises in subsequent years are limited to 10.5% of the salary in the first renegotiated season. The renegotiation may not contain a signing bonus. Contracts cannot be renegotiated downward (players can't take a "pay cut" in order to create salary cap room for the team) or to contain fewer seasons.
Again, a team over the salary cap cannot renegotiate a contract.
So it would seem that Portland couldn't renegotiate the Miles contract because they are over the cap.
It's hard for me to believe that any buyout would involve Miles taking less money, so a buyout wouldn't have an impact on 2009 cap-space.
The only thing that would accomplish that would be a medical retirement, and Miles certainly hasn't talked like that is an option.
