Re: Question on Salary Cap

[Marc Lamphier <lamphier@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp>]

Phe Meas wrote:

> A team can only sign their own players with the Larry Bird exception if
> they are under the cap. - Meaning they can only sign only one player
> using the Larry Bird exception.
> 
> e.g.
> LA is 3 million under the cap and they sign Grant Hill (assuming Hill
> was with them for a couple of years) to a one year deal for $20 million.
> They are now over the cap. They cannot sign Tim - Duncan or Scottie
> Pippen because they are over the cap.


I'm confused about Rodman then, obviously since he wasn't with the Bulls 
for 2 seasons he couldn't have been re-signed under the Larry Bird 
exception. So does this mean his entire $9m salary fit under the Bulls 
salary cap??? That's almost 1/3 of the total cap. Or was it structured 
in such a way, using bonuses for # of games played, etc., that the basic 
salary was much less? (in reality Rodman didn't collect all of his 
salary due to games lost to injuries and suspensions).

What are the rules on structuring salaries to include bonuses? It seems 
that a bonus which depends on the # of games played is kind of a joke, a 
way to pay someone without it counting against the cap. 


- -Marc