FAQ: Amnesty Rules, Dwight Trade, Draft Picks

So I thought instead of these things being repeated in every thread we could do a single FAQ thread where they could all be referenced. If Bima would come up with some extra stuff regarding exact dollar figures that the mods could edit into this that would be wonderful.

Amnesty Rule

Edit: Made some changes to this now that we have officially used our amnesty on Luis Scola

Edit: Here is a link to a breakdown of the amnesty clause and other CBA related items:
http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q67

1) Can we amnesty a player we trade for?
No. The Amnesty Clause in the current CBA allows a team to amnesty a player that was on your roster at the time the CBA was signed. No players acquired afterwards via trade or FA are eligible. UPDATE: Now that we have used the amnesty clause on Luis Scola, we are no longer able to use it on any other players.

2) Could we amnesty a player like Scola and then resign him?
No. The Amnesty Clause prohibits a team from reacquiring a player they amnesty for the life of that contract.

3) Does an amnestied player count toward the salary cap or luxury tax?
No. A player that is waived via the Amnesty Clause does not count against the salary cap or luxury tax. The player can count toward the minimum salary requirement. The team has to pay the salary but is no longer penalized for it.

4) What happens if a team claims Scola on the amnesty waiver wire?
Teams can bid for an amnestied player on the amnesty waiver wire. The Rockets would be responsible for his remaining salary minus the amount of the bid.

Dwight Howard Information
1) Has Dwight Howard said he would not re-sign with Houston?
Not exactly. What Dwight has said and reiterated recently is that he would only sign an extension with the Brooklyn Nets if traded there. He stated that if he is traded elsewhere he will explore his free agency options after the season. That does not preclude him from re-signing with the team he is traded to, it just means he won’t guarantee it. There was a report released by David Aldridge that said Dwight would absolutely not re-sign with Houston.

Edit: As a poster below mentions. The report by Aldridge mentions "sources with knowledge of Dwight's thinking." It is important to note that at the time of this report (June) the Nets still looked like a team that could acquire Dwight and would have cap space available. That is no longer the case. It is very possible this was a ploy to scare the Rockets off so Dwight could go to the Nets.
http://hangtime.blogs.nba.com/2012/...ight-howard-stays-in-houston-if-traded-there/

2) If we trade for Dwight, can’t he just sign with Brooklyn or LA outright and leave us with nothing?
He potentially could, but is unlikely. Both teams (and the Knicks too just for kicks) will be well over the cap with no feasible way of getting under it. Therefore, they’d only be able to offer him the $3.5 million exception. It is always possible that Dwight’s desire to play for Brooklyn is so strong he’s willing to play for such a small amount, but is unlikely. He’d be walking away from approximately $15 million a year for three years and then whatever the difference between the new max deal after 3 years would be vs. his current max deal. It is almost inconceivable to consider this a realistic option.

3) Are there any teams that could sign Dwight outright?
Yes. There will be teams other than Houston that are under the cap next year. Atlanta and Dallas are the two most often cited because of A) Dwight’s hometown is ATL and B) Dallas was originally on Dwight’s trade list. In my mind Dallas is the biggest threat for Dwight to bolt.

4) Can Dwight get as much money with another team as he could with HOU if traded here?
Absolutely not. Because of the new CBA, Dwight’s contract will be maximum value with the team he is traded to due to bird rights. If he signs somewhere else, even a team under the cap for the max, he walks away from a 5th guaranteed year for substantial money.

5) Can’t he just force a sign and trade to get the 5th year?
No. The 5th year is limited to the team that has his bird rights. If they sign and trade him he loses that 5th year.

6) Is a max deal signed with another team the same value over 4 years as it is with the team that owns his bird rights?
No. The team that has his bird rights can give him a max value contract with 7.5% raises after the first year. A team he signs with outright can only sign him to 4.5% raises.

7) Can we trade for Dwight and then immediately sign him to an extension and then trade him at the deadline?
No. The new CBA limits the possibilities of so called “extend-and-trade” transactions. A player cannot be extended and traded in the last season of his contract. You would also be limited to 4.5% raises in such a transaction vs. the 7.5% in a true max. Additionally, as we would be acquiring Dwight Howard via trade, we would be unable to sign him to an extension for at least 6 months and would then be unable to trade him for 6 months after that due to language in the new CBA.

Draft Picks
1) What 1st rd picks do we currently have?
We currently own the lottery guaranteed Raptors pick and the Dallas protected pick. Our own first round pick is obligated to Atlanta due to the Joe Johnson trade with Brooklyn where the Nets traded the pick we gave up for Terrance Williams. That pick is conveyed to ATL when we make the playoffs as it is lottery protected.

Edit: Here is a good breakdown of our picks on RealGM. (I know it's RealGM, but this is an accurate breakdown)
http://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/future_drafts/detailed


2) Can we trade multiple future 1sts of our own?
No. We can trade one future pick under the "first allowable" language. This would set the pick being traded to be conveyed 2 years after the date we conveyed the pick to Atlanta via the Brooklyn trade. The earliest this pick could be conveyed would be 2015. However, due to rules limiting how many picks can be sent out over a certain time frame "Seven Year Rule", the Rockets could only trade one pick.

The Stretch Rule

1) What is the stretch rule?
The stretch rule is a clause in the new CBA that allows a player to be released with the cap hit being spread out over multiple years to afford the team more cap flexibility. The basic tenets are that a player may be released with his cap number being stretched out over a period time corresponding to the following formula: (Y x 2 +1) where Y= the number of years currently left on the deal. So for example, a player with 2 years and 10 million left on his contract could be released with his cap hit being stretched out over 5 years. Instead of a 5 million dollar hit for the next seasons, you’d have a 2 million dollar hit for the next 5. This is obviously more beneficial the higher the contract value. There are some quirks to it depending on dates where the player is released. For more detailed information, see the CBA FAQ linked to in this post.

2) Can any player be released with this provision?
The current understanding by BBS users who have looked into it is that only players signed since the new CBA was ratified are eligible. With respect to the rumored Orlando trade, this would apply to Jason Richardson and Glen Davis.

OFFER SHEETS

1) When did Jeremy Lin sign his offer sheet?
Lin officially signed his offer sheet on 7/13/2012.

2) When is the deadline for the Knicks to match?
The Knicks have 3 days from the date the offer is signed to match. This sets the date at 7/16.

3) What is the poison pill that gets referenced?
The way Morey has elected to structure the contract for Jeremy Lin, if the Knicks match it will cost them approximately 5 million the first two years and then balloon to 15 million in year three. This is termed a poison pill because of its potential impact on the team's luxury tax. As a (likely) repeat offender of the luxury tax threshold (71 million) by the third year of this deal, the Knicks would be responsible for a punitive tax of 4.5 dollars for every dollar spent above the tax. This would make Lin's cost in that 3rd year approximately $67 million after luxury tax.

4) Would the Rockets have to pay Lin $15 million in year 3?
No. The way the poison pill concept works is that it only applies to the team that matches. If the Knicks decline to match, the Rockets would pay Lin a balanced salary of approximately $8 million per season.

5) Could the Knicks match and then trade him to us?
No. The CBA prevents a team from matching on an RFA and then trading him to the team that signs him to the offer sheet. He would be ineligible to be traded at all for up to 1 year.


MISC
1) Can we trade Donatas Motiejunas as part of a trade for Dwight?
Not if it happens soon. Because he has been signed to a contract, the player affectionately called “Donuts” cannot be traded until August 3rd.

2) Is it possible to keep Courtney Lee?
As of this writing, yes. The Rockets still own his bird rights. As Bima has mentioned in many threads, it is possible they will relinquish his rights in order to make their offer sheets to players like Lin and Asik work cap wise. It is also possible they will handle that in other ways in an effort to hold onto Lee’s rights for as long as possible.

3) What are the best sources to follow during this madness?
This is obviously an opinion question but is a good way to put out reputable sources. There are countless people who put out information about NBA trades and rumors. Among them are names like Hoopsworld, Ric Bucher, David Aldridge, etc. You will have to make your own decision about the credibility of each individual source. The long stance of the majority of Clutchfans is that hoopsworld is unreliable at best. I’ll make no comment on the rest of the names I mentioned, but I will give you one that is generally considered the best; Adrian Wojnarowski. Affectionately known as Woj (who am I kidding? It’s because we can’t spell his name without google!) he is considered by far the most reliable and accurate NBA reporter. You can follow his twitter feed here: http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA/
Others include:
Marc Stein (ESPN Insider) https://twitter.com/ESPNSteinLine
MarkBerman (Local reporter, never wrong) https://twitter.com/MarkBermanFox26
Jason Friedman (Chron reporter) https://twitter.com/RocketsJCF
David Weiner (BimaThug of Clutchfans Fame) https://twitter.com/BimaThug
Official Clutchfans Twitter (Official Clutchfans Twitter) https://twitter.com/clutchfans

Useful Links
NBA Trade Machine: http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine
CBA Breakdown: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm
82 Games.com (Breakdown of statistics) http://82games.com/
BasketBall Reference (Current and historical statistics) http://www.basketball-reference.com/

 

I doubt that was his goal when he traded the pick, but I do think it works out nicely for us now. Orlando would want us to give them say next year's 1st and then another one two years later or something like that like the Lakers just did.

 

I didn't think we were allowed to do that?

Edit: It appears you might be right here Hmmm. I'll amend the faq.

I can't imagine this pick having a lot of value to Orlando, but I guess that would want it anyway.

 

I need clarification on this. I am not clear whether you can do it this way when you have a qualified pick traded like the one we have to ATL. For now I've amended the FAQ to reflect this possibility, but I think it is also possible we can't trade it.

 

Thank you. I was trying to find the language that covered exactly what the difference in raises was.

 

I've reading and I think your understanding is correct. I just updated the FAQ with a few more items and I'll go ahead and add this information to it.

 

Haha, not a smart ass. Want the info to all be exact. I got that out of the DMO signing thread, first post I saw about his date. I knew there was a time period but wasn't sure.