Report: 4 have main shot at Finley

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8961080/


NBA NOTES
NBCSports.com news services
Updated: 4:43 p.m. ET Aug. 16, 2005
Michael Finley was waived late Monday night by the Dallas Mavericks, who took advantage of a one-time amnesty provision that will allow them to avoid luxury taxes on the $51.8 million owed their captain over the next three seasons.

ESPN cited NBA sources as saying that Miami, Detroit, San Antonio and Phoenix have the best shot at landing Finle.

Finley becomes an unrestricted free agent and is still guaranteed the money from his Mavericks contract, plus whatever he gets from a new team.
The Mavs spent all day Monday exploring trade options, and waited until just before the late-night deadline to release Finley and take advantage of the provision in the NBA’s new labor agreement.

“This has been a very difficult process for all of us,” said Donnie Nelson, the team’s president of basketball operations. “Michael has played a huge role in rebuilding this franchise and taking it to where it is today. ... We thank him and wish him nothing but the best.”

The Mavs avoid a dollar-for-dollar tax on Finley’s $15.9 million salary for the 2005-06 season. The two-time All-Star is due $17.3 million and $18.6 million over the final two seasons of the seven-year contract he signed in 2001.

Finley isn’t eligible to re-sign with the Mavericks until his original contract expires after the 2007-08 season, when he will be 35.

Finley was traded to Dallas from Phoenix on Dec. 26, 1996, and was the longest-tenured player for the Mavericks. He averaged 19.8 points for the Mavs in 626 games the past 8½ seasons.

The Mavericks apparently already found a new veteran swingman, having reportedly agreed with Doug Christie on a one-year, $3 million contract.

Christie was waived Thursday by the Orlando Magic under the same amnesty clause. If no team claims him by Thursday, he’ll be a free agent. The Mavs don’t plan to sign him before then.

Finley was an All-Star before Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, then the trio became known as the “Big Three” — taking the Mavericks from one of the league’s worst teams to having at least 50 wins and going to the playoffs four straight seasons. Nash left as a free agent last summer and joined the Suns.

This past season, Finley had some of the worst averages in his 10 NBA seasons, scoring 15.7 points a game — his lowest in Dallas. He shot 42.7 percent from the field and averaged a career-low 4.1 rebounds.

Finley averaged at least 20 points a game in his first five full seasons in Dallas, but his scoring average has dropped in each of the past five years since his career-high 22.6 in 1999-00.

In June, Finley had arthroscopic surgery to remove bone chips from his right ankle, which bothered him most of the season and even made him miss 15 games before Christmas. The surgery was successful, and he should be fully recovered by the start of training camp.

Christie, who played for the Sacramento Kings before being traded to the Magic in January, will get $8.2 million from Orlando. He’s also played for the Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors, averaging 11.4 points and 1.9 steals per game over his career.

Houston not dropped, but Reggie Miller is
The so-called “Allan Houston Rule” failed to claim its namesake Monday.

Houston avoided being cut by the New York Knicks on the final day for NBA teams to take advantage of a one-time chance to escape luxury tax obligations for any contract on their books.

Rather than saving almost $40 million, New York opted instead to release forward Jerome Williams to avoid $21.3 million in luxury taxes that would have been due over the next three seasons.

Dallas worked into the night trying to find a trade for Michael Finley, who is owed $51.8 million over the next three seasons. But the Mavericks ended up releasing the 10-year veteran instead.

In all, teams saved more than $212 million in future tax payments by waiving 18 players. Among those let go Monday were Fred Hoiberg of Minnesota, Ron Mercer of New Jersey, Calvin Booth of Milwaukee, Troy Bell of Memphis and Clarence Weatherspoon of Houston.

Several teams made moves to clear tax obligations for players who left their rosters long ago. They included Alonzo Mourning (Toronto), Vin Baker (Boston), Derrick Coleman (Detroit), Wesley Person (Miami), Eddie Robinson (Chicago) and Howard Eisley (Phoenix).

Players previously released under the amnesty program included Doug Christie (Orlando), Aaron McKie (Philadelphia), Brian Grant (Los Angeles Lakers) and Derek Anderson (Portland).

Teams whose payrolls exceed $61.7 million for the upcoming season will have to pay a dollar-for-dollar tax on the overage. Among them are the Indiana Pacers, who waived retired guard Reggie Miller to save $6 million in luxury tax costs.

“In my conversations with Reggie, it is clear he will not play next year, and therefore to take advantage of the amnesty rule, we designated Reggie as our amnesty player,” Pacers president Donnie Walsh said. “I’ve spoken with Reggie, and he is fine with it. This will go down as his final assist.”

The Knicks had been expected to waive Houston, who played only 20 games last season due to chronic knee soreness. But Houston’s close ties with Knicks owner James Dolan of Cablevision, along with incoming coach Larry Brown’s history of coaching Houston with the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, helped factor into the decision for him to remain on the roster.

Also, the Knicks could get luxury tax and salary cap relief while also having Houston’s salary paid by insurance if his knee injury prevents him from returning.

“I was prepared for (being waived),” Houston said. “You have to be. The team has made changes already in preparation for me not being there, and I understand that. But I still believe I can play.”

The one-time amnesty option was part of the six-year collective bargaining agreement agreed to earlier this summer by the league and the players’ union. Under terms of the rule, players who were waived will still be paid by their former teams and cannot re-sign with them until their current contracts have expired.

Grant, for example, will receive $14.3 million from the Lakers in 2005-06 and $15.4 million in 2006-07 in addition to the money he receives from the Phoenix Suns, who were planning to sign him Tuesday.

Under the “tax certainty” provisions of the new labor deal, the luxury tax will be assessed each season against teams that exceed a certain payroll threshold. Under the old rules, teams did not know until a season had ended whether a luxury tax would be applied for the previous season.

The teams reaping the most savings under the amnesty rule include the Mavericks ($51.8 million), Lakers ($29.7 million), Knicks ($23.1 million), 76ers ($19.5 million), Trail Blazers ($18.8 million) and Bucks ($13.2 million). The team with the smallest savings will be the Memphis Grizzlies, who relieved themselves of tax obligations for Bell’s 2005-06 salary of $1.5 million.

Bulls match offer for Duhon
The Chicago Bulls kept guard Chris Duhon, matching an offer sheet the restricted free agent signed with Toronto. The Raptors reportedly had offered a three-year deal for more than $9 million.

Duhon, a second-round draft pick from Duke in 2004, averaged 5.9 points and led all NBA rookies with 4.9 assists a game. He helped the Bulls to a 47-35 record and their first playoff appearance since winning the championship in 1998.

Bulls general manager John Paxson has said he will match any offer sheets the team’s restricted free agents sign, making it unlikely center Eddy Curry, forward Tyson Chandler and guard Jannero Pargo will wind up elsewhere.

 

Why? We have been talking about Finely amoung other free agents forever and a while. This is just an addition to threads already posted on this forum.

 

Shoot. Thanks for the link. I'll watch out next time.