Potentially big Blazer news coming soon?

[SoHo]

^Stern was collecting his check for rigging ping pong balls in our favor... Hello Derrick Rose!

[Charcoal Filtered]

-= original quote snipped =-



I don't believe this is the case. You don't carry salary under the cap and just have the luxury tax written off by Coon's explanation. Rather, if Miles were to simply retire but Portland was unable to get the medical exception (hard to believe they wouldn't be able to in this case given his age and injury), his salary would count towards the cap, and if that moved Portland into luxury tax territory, they would be responsible for that as well. It's not, as I understand it, a mix-and-match scenario, but rather an either/or one: either he retires and we don't get the exception, in which case he counts against both cap and for luxury tax; or we get the exception and he counts for neither.

If Miles were to retire, it would be due to medical reasons. We would get exceptions for the cap and luxury tax. As said, it benefits the team as well as Miles. Getting paid in full now is worth alot more than in payments over the next two years, if that is how the buyout of his contract is negotiated.

[Spykes]

Geez, what crawled up your crack?

I'm tired of hearing this crap from you in EVERY thread that mentions Jason Quick's name. You're becoming a broken record with this "Quick is a moron" rant you go on all the time. We get it, you don't like him. We don't need to constantly be reminded.

Yeah, like I believe that.

I agree with this. I never believe Stern's company line. I'm sure what he said might be part of the reason, but I'm sure there's something more to it that he won't talk about with the media.

[Red Robot]

My guess: Miles and the Blazers have agreed to a buyout. It probably won't save the team much money, and it won't contribute to any cap space. Darius probably gets signed somewhere else and plays a little without ever becoming a real contributor. The Blazers do this because they know there will never be a good trade option, and a buyout saves a few dollars, opens a roster space, and makes Darius go away.

[Spykes]

My guess: Miles and the Blazers have agreed to a buyout. It probably won't save the team much money, and it won't contribute to any cap space. Darius probably gets signed somewhere else and plays a little without ever becoming a real contributor. The Blazers do this because they know there will never be a good trade option, and a buyout saves a few dollars, opens a roster space, and makes Darius go away.

I'd be confused by this move at this time. If they were content to just buy him out, why not do it last summer? If they've waited this long on him, whats another few years? If you just negotiate a buyout, you've basically given up on every possible option to get rid of his salary.

I suppose it's possible, but I'd be extremely disappointed if that was the news.

[Jsun947]

If its just a regular buy out I don't understand why they do this move now. Darius still isn't ready to play so it hurts his value or chances of going to another team...

It would make more sense to do in the offseason where he could travel to other teams and try to show he can still contribute.

I'm still going to hold my head high and guess its medical retirement and thats why Stern was here.

[Jsun947]

If miles does retire for medical reasons this is how our cap situation will look coming up to 09/10...

6.85 - Przybilla
5.37 - Oden
5.85 - Aldridge
3.9 - Roy
Sergio - 1.9
4 - Outlaw (Team)
4 - Blake (Team)
1.1 - Rudy
1.8 - 13th pick 2007
~ max of 32.97 mil unless Outlaw or Blake is cut and thats for 9 players...
I'm going to venture a guess that we will resign Jones for around 4 mil a year bringing the total to about 37 million of obligation for a 10 man roster.

Webster, Jack, and Frye will either be let go, extended, or traded (I'm leaning forward traded)

Oden/Przybilla
Aldridge/Outlaw
???/Jones
Roy/Rudy
Blake/Lottery Pick/Sergio

Its very possible we could be up to 24 million dollars under the cap in 09/10 while we look for a starting PG & SF.

[Billy]

I'd have to think it wouldn't be just a simple buyout as it solves very few if any problems for either side.

Portland is most likely contending he's washed up, and can't play. If they cut him as Spykes mentioned there is nothing further that can be done. Portland will have that extra 9 million on the 09 books. That does not sound like something KP would be happy about, and I doubt PA would force that kind of thing (as KP represents at least a mild opportunity to get something for Miles).

For Miles, the playoff opportunity just came and went. If he gets cut he's not eligible to sign with a team and be on a playoff roster. A lot of these last second big FA signings like Cassell give the player the obvious benefit of competing for a title, but also giving them an extra audition for the next year with a great playoff showing. If Miles and his agent were already thinking about his next new contract, I would think they'd want an opportunity to get that during a playoff run with some team.

Hopefully he retires. Again, while it was merely a glimpse at him before the LA game warming up, he sure didn't look like he had much of his athleticism left. He never so much as jogged at quarter speed to each shooting spot. He basically walked, shot, and walked to the next spot about 5 feet away. I'd just have to think that if I'm wanting to prove to the team that I should play, I would be running, getting lift on my shots, fading away etc. Anything to make it look like I could be more than the last guy up the floor.

[ebott]

If Miles medically retires it would be spectacular. I went ahead and ran all the numbers cause I was sick of not having them handy. Here's our whole cap situation for 2009. It's probably gonna take up a whole page....

Guaranteed:

player salary
Joel 6,857,725
Greg 5,361,240
LaMarcus 5,844,826
Brandon 3,910,816
Sergio 1,892,035
Rudy 2,000,000
2008 1st rounder 2,000,000
2009 1st rounder 2,000,000
Miles 0

total 29,866,642

Dumpable:

player Salary
Jack ?2,899,789
Outlaw 4,000,000
Blake 4,250,000
Frye ?4,264,760
Webster ?5,030,692
total 20,445,241

I put question marks in front of Martell, Frye and Jack because I'm not exactly sure how a players qualifying offer counts against the cap. The way I understand it what counts against the cap is the amount of their qualifying offer. But others have said that it's 3 times their previous salary.

If it's my way then we could keep everyone and have 10 mil in cap space. We could dump guys to get more cap space like so...


Dumped Cap Space
Nobody 9,688,117
Jack 12,587,906
Outlaw 13,688,117
Blake 13,938,117
Frye 13,952,877
Webster 14,718,809
(Anything beyond this and we've got room for 1 max guy)
Jack + Outlaw 16,587,906
Jack + Blake 16,837,906
Jack + Frye 16,852,666
Jack + Webster 17,618,598
Outlaw + Blake 17,938,117
Outlaw + Frye 17,952,877
Outlaw + Webster 18,718,809
Blake + Frye 18,202,877
Blake + Martell 18,968,809
Jack + Outlaw + Blake 20,837,906
Jack + Outlaw + Frye 20,852,666
Jack + Outlaw + Webster 21,618,598
Jack + Blake + Frye 21,102,666
Jack + Blake + Webster 21,868,598
Jack + Frye + Webster 21,883,358
Outlaw + Blake + Frye 22,202,877
Outlaw + Blake + Webster 22,968,809
Outlaw + Frye + Webster 22,983,569
Blake + Frye + Webster 23,233,569
Jack + Outlaw + Blake + Frye 25,102,666
Jack + Outlaw + Blake + Webster 25,868,598
Jack + Outlaw + Frye + Webster 25,883,358
Jack + Blake + Frye + Webster 26,133,358
Outlaw + Blake + Frye + Webster 27,233,569
Jack + Outlaw + Blake + Frye +Webster 30,133,358

if I'm wrong and it is 3 times their previous salary it changes quite a bit. We'd pretty much have to drop Jack, Frye and Webster to get real cap space...

Dumped Cap Space
Nobody -5,196,642
Jack 803,358
Outlaw -1,196,642
Blake -946,642
Frye 4,583,358
Webster 6,103,358
Jack + Outlaw 4,803,358
Jack + Blake 5,053,358
Jack + Frye 10,583,358
Jack + Webster 12,103,358
Outlaw + Blake 3,053,358
Outlaw + Frye 8,583,358
Outlaw + Webster 10,103,358
Blake + Frye 8,833,358
Blake + Martell 10,353,358
Jack + Outlaw + Blake 9,053,358
Jack + Outlaw + Frye 14,583,358
Jack + Outlaw + Webster 16,103,358
Jack + Blake + Frye 14,833,358
Jack + Blake + Webster 16,353,358
Jack + Frye + Webster 21,883,358
Outlaw + Blake + Frye 12,833,358
Outlaw + Blake + Webster 14,353,358
Outlaw + Frye + Webster 19,883,358
Blake + Frye + Webster 20,133,358
Jack + Outlaw + Blake + Frye 18,833,358
Jack + Outlaw + Blake + Webster 20,353,358
Jack + Outlaw + Frye + Webster 25,883,358
Jack + Blake + Frye + Webster 26,133,358
Outlaw + Blake + Frye + Webster 24,133,358
Jack + Outlaw + Blake + Frye +Webster 30,133,358

[AZ BLAZER]

Here is how a buyout affects the cap;

If Miles were to accept a buyout, lets say he will agree to give up $3 mil to be released, that $3 mil would be split between his remaining seasons on a percentage basis. For the purposes of this post, lets assume this season is over and we are only talking about Miles having two years left on his deal. You would take what is due in year one, divide it by the total amount of the contract due to determine the year one percentage. What is due in year two would be 1-the year one percentage. Miles is due $9 mil in each season, so the math is really easy;

year one

$18 mil/$9 mil=.5

year two

1-.5=.5

(If Miles was due say $8.5 mil and $9.5 mil the percentages would not be 50/50)

So in year one of the buyout, Miles would be paid;

$9 mil-($3 mil*.5)=$7.5 mil

In year one of a Miles buyout his cap hit would be $7.5 mil if he agreed to take $3 mil less to go away. It would be the same for year two of the buyout as well. Again, if Miles was due say $8.5 mil and $9.5 mil the percentages would not be 50/50. This formula works the same for any amount of years bought out, and also for and dollar amount the player agrees to give up to go away. Anything the player agrees to uses the above math. Portland can not give him $18 mil in year one to cancel out the cap hit in year two.

Also, I do not see Miles or Portland doing this. For Miles, he is getting paid whether Portland puts him on the court or not. The only way I see Miles accepting a buy out is if he is just tired of rehabbing and living in Portland. But then why not just do the medical retirement?

For Portland, insurance is paying Miles, not the team. Why give that cash cow away? Also, they would get very little cap savings, and then lose the ability to trade Miles when he is an expiring deal. I think Miles is going to opt for the medical retirement. I will do another post to address that scenario.

[AZ BLAZER]

Here is the info on Medical Retirement;

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.

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#53

The waiting period of one year as well passed. I am not sure how quickly these things can be settled. I know that the league would investigate to assure the player was not coerced into accepting medical retirement. They would also make sure that he is in fact disabled to the point he can not play. The league doctors can deny the claim. Also, if Miles is deemed medically retired, he could come off of the books this year, possibly saving Paul Allen lux tax payments.

[Billy]

Maybe it's just me, but I think it will just be nice to actually fill that spot with a half way decent player for the rest of the year. I don't care if we ever hear from that player again, but just to be able to have a guy that might be useful I think would be nice.

[Telfaire]

Maybe the big news is that wer'e not resigning Wafer...

[SinceClyde]

You never hear of anything regarding resigning players until closer to the off season, I always thought.

I agree it's either medical retirement or a buy out.

[Village Idiot]

I think medical retirement is the obvious outcome for Darius Miles.

Great news!

[waverider]

I agree with AZ that a buyout at this time makes very littlse sense. Insurance is now paying the salary, or at least 80% of it, so why give that away and any hope of a medical retirement. Plus the summer after next we can trade Darus as a possible expiring contract. I think the med retirement has a solid chance here.

[PDXKnight]

Maybe the big news is that wer'e not resigning Wafer...

OHHHHHHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[blazersmaniac8]

damn if miles does retire I'm gonna drink up friday and it will be a holdiay in my books every year, no joke

[Yadadimean]

^Stern was collecting his check for rigging ping pong balls in our favor... Hello Derrick Rose!

LMAO I was tellin my boy the same thing last night over a nice cheap bottle of gin.

[Red Robot]

I put question marks in front of Martell, Frye and Jack because I'm not exactly sure how a players qualifying offer counts against the cap. The way I understand it what counts against the cap is the amount of their qualifying offer. But others have said that it's 3 times their previous salary.

As I understand it, only free agents count for 3x their previous salary. When they sign a new contract, the value from that contract is used. So Martell would tie up a lot of money while he's FA, but once he agreed to play for the qualifying offer, it's his QO amount that would then count against the cap.

I don't think anyone will be signed to a qualifying offer. Instead, the Blazers will try to negotiate a new multi-year contract with anyone they want to keep. So Portland could sign Martell to a contract starting at reasonable amount (e.g. 3 million), and then have room for a big free agent.

Nice job putting all the salary info together by the way.

.