http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q78 58. What are option clauses? What kind of option clauses are there? An option clause allows a contract to be extended for one additional season after the date it is scheduled to end. For example, a three-year contract with an option for the fourth year means that if the option is exercised, then the contract extends through the fourth season, but if the option is not exercised, then the contract ends after the third season. Once exercised, an option cannot be revoked (for example, a player cannot invoke an option on June 20 and change his mind on June 25). Conditional options are not allowed -- the availability of the option may not be contingent on some condition, such as the number of games the team wins or the player's points per game1. There are three types of options: Team Options give the team the right to invoke the option. There can be only one option year (except in the case of rookie scale contracts). Player Options give the player the right to invoke the option. There can be only one option year. Player Early Termination Options (ETOs) give the player the right to terminate the contract early. An ETO can't occur prior to the end of fourth season of the contract (which implies that the contract must be for five seasons). An ETO is not allowed in a veteran extension (see question number 59). A contract may not contain more than one option in the same season (for example, the last season cannot contain both a player option and a team option). In fact, a contract may not contain more than one option at all, with the following two exceptions: A rookie scale contract for a first round draft pick contains a team option before both the third and fourth seasons. No other options are permitted in rookie scale contracts. See question number 49 for more information. Under the previous CBA a six-year contract could contain an ETO prior to the fifth season and an option (player or team) prior to the sixth season. Since six-year contracts are not permitted under the current CBA, this is no longer possible. Only Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade (each with an ETO in 2014 and a player option in 2015) remain with both an ETO and a player option. I'm seeing where Wade plans to leave early for both years. He wouldn't do it if LeBron and Bosh weren't on board. Now Melo?
