This rule is different than originally reported in the media. Here is an FAQ that explains it better
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/stor...marc&id=2112912You've heard about the NBA's new "amnesty" clause, referred to in some circles as the Allan Houston Rule.
Now you want to know how it works.
Herewith, then, is an FAQ to explain every aspect of the rule.
Q: What is the amnesty clause?
A: This new provision grants teams a one-time exception to waive a player without paying any further luxury tax on the player's contract, regardless of how long or how rich the contract is.
Q: What is the deadline for capitalizing on this provision?
A: The window for releasing an amnesty player opens when the new labor agreement takes effect Tuesday at noon and ends Aug. 15. At the urging of the union and various teams, the deadline was brought forward from Oct. 1 so amnesty players aren't shut out of the free-agent market all summer and left scrambling for a new team two days before training camps start.
Q: Can teams save this one-time exception for later in the season or future seasons?
A: No. NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com that multiple teams have pushed for the rule to be tweaked to allow teams to be able to save the one-time provision for use during any of the six seasons in the new labor agreement. The league, however, refused to budge.
Q: Do teams have to waive a player?
A: No. The league-wide consensus actually suggests that fewer than half of the NBA's 30 teams will make use of the amnesty provision.
Q: Does the contract of an amnesty player drop off a team's payroll?
A: No. And the provision provides only luxury-tax relief, with no salary-cap relief. So a team can't release a player to gain cap space.
Q: But any player on a team's roster can be released?
A: Yes. Any player who appears on a team's 2005-06 payroll list is eligible -- except those acquired after June 21.
That includes players who are no longer with a team but whose salary still appears on the payroll. One prominent example is Alonzo Mourning, whose contract was bought out by Toronto for an estimated $11 million in March. Mourning has since signed with the Miami Heat, but the Raptors can still make Mourning their amnesty player to avoid paying the luxury tax on what they still owe him.
Q: When will we start seeing players released under this provision?
A: Most executives and player agents expected teams to wait as long as they possibly could, which is what sparked the movement to bring the Oct. 1 deadline forward. Delaying an amnesty waiver gives the team involved as much time as possible to explore trade options, limited as they tend to be for players with big salaries, and thus take every precaution against losing an asset without compensation.
Q: Can a team re-sign its own amnesty player at a later date?
A: No. Amnesty players are strictly prohibited from re-signing with the team that released them for the life of the terminated contract.
The league also snuffed out the possibility that teams might try to trade around this stipulation by including the June 21 deadline for players to be eligible to be released via the amnesty clause.
Let's say Dallas wanted to trade Michael Finley to Toronto in exchange for Jalen Rose, with the Mavericks and Raptors agreeing to use their amnesty slot to release each player so both could sign back with their original teams at a reduced price. Because such a trade couldn't be completed before June 21, neither player could be released with amnesty, meaning that the Mavericks and Raptors would get no tax break from such an arrangement.
Q: Can one team sign multiple amnesty players?
A: Yes. Let's say, hypothetically, that Allan Houston and Finley both wanted to sign with Detroit. Both would become unrestricted free agents after being released by the Knicks and Mavericks, so the Pistons would indeed have the right to sign both.
Q: Who does this rule benefit the most?
A: Teams with extremely high payrolls. New York and Dallas can save roughly $40 million and $50 million, respectively, in luxury-tax payments by releasing Allan Houston and Michael Finley. But Houston and Finley get the biggest benefit by far. Not only is Finley guaranteed to receive every penny of the $52 million left on his Mavericks contract, he also becomes an unrestricted free agent who can sign a separate long-term contract.
Q: Is there a reduction in a team's financial obligation to an amnesty player once he signs a new contract with another team? Or can a player double-dip?
A: The union fought to make double-dipping permissable, but the league held firm and won the right in the end to apply the usual set-off provision for players released with money owed to any amnesty player's new contract. That means a percentage of the player's new salary will go back to the team that released him.
Q: Is there any way for a potential amnesty player to convince his team to release him sooner than Aug. 15 and thereby increase his free-agent options?
A: The only apparent means is consenting to a buyout in which the player agrees to reduce the amount of guaranteed money left on his contract in exchange for the immediate right to find a new team. Orlando's Doug Christie, an amnesty candidate with one season left on his contract at $8.2 million, has reportedly discussed a buyout with the Magic.
Q: Can a team that doesn't have a payroll exceeding the luxury-tax threshold exercise the amnesty option?
A: Yes. Even if a team isn't on course to pay luxury tax after the 2005-06 season, it can elect to make an amnesty waiver if it anticipates a tax-paying situation down the road. A team could determine that a amnesty move now would save money later, but the decision has to be made this month with the amnesty option only available through Aug. 15.
Q: Why was this rule adopted and what are teams really gaining if releasing an amnesty player results in no cap relief and doesn't stop the player from collecting all of his checks?
A: Taxpaying teams have long complained that the NBA's financial system offers no mechanism for teams to undo or recover from a contract mistake. This is a one-time chance for teams to at least free themselves of the tax consequences of what is deemed a bad contract.
Sources indicate that some of the league's smaller-market (and more fiscally responsible) teams fought the implementation of the amnesty clause, arguing that the league's big spenders already have big advantages when it comes to player acquisition. Those appeals were denied.
Q: Besides Finley and Houston, who is likely to be released under the amnesty clause?
A: Brian Grant of the Los Angeles Lakers is widely considered a lock, as is ex-Phoenix guard Howard Eisley, who will be released by the Suns in circumstances similar to the Mourning example described above. Other possibilities include Indiana's Austin Croshere, Philadelphia's Aaron McKie, Portland's Derek Anderson and Milwaukee's Calvin Booth. See Chad Ford's team-by-team breakdown for other candidates.
