Since the NBA and NBAPA has come to a new agreement on a ten year Collective Bargaining agreement, and a 66 game NBA season set to begin on Christmas Day basketball fans are getting primed. NBA executives are also carefully planning out roster moves, and how to get their teams into the best position possible. There are several ways to do this under the new CBA, and one of the more important is the Amnesty Clause. Through the life of this CBA each team gets to essentially void one contract.
The player will still be paid the money owed, but that money will not count against the cap. Which means teams can rid themselves of one overpriced player, and save a little money to pursue other players who could help their team now. In a surprising move, sources are saying that the Detroit Pistons will not take advantage of this clause immediately.
Since the Pistons are a team in rebuild mode, who happen to have several highly priced players that have not exactly worked out, it seems logical to assume that their new owner would like to kick start the rebuild process by ridding himself of one bad contract, and looking to bring in someone that could either help the team on the court, or spark some interest in his team.
The Pistons owe Rip Hamilton a prorated 12.6 million for 2011 and another 12.6 million for 2012. They owe Ben Gordon a prorated 11.6 million for the current season, and two more years at more than 25 million. They also owe Charlie Villanueva somewhere north of 20 million dollars over the next few seasons. All three of those players likely do not fit in the rebuilding process of this team, and they could serve themselves well by ridding themselves of all that dead money.
However, since the Pistons are rebuilding they have to look at these three bad deals as assets. They have to try and trade these contracts for prospects, draft picks, or any other assets to help them rebuild. That is why the reluctance to use the Amnesty Clause immediately is likely simple posturing. Meaning they will try to trade said players before writing them off.
The Pistons believe there is a trade market for Hamilton, and have tried to trade him in each of the past two seasons. They may also think Gordon can regain his form and produce on the floor, There was also a trade market for Villanueva last season. Due to their changing ownership situation the team was unable to pull any deals. Now with a new owner in place it behooves them to try and make trades before simply writing off these players.
Comments