Re: guaranteed contracts

[lamphier@m.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Marc Lamphier)]

At  4:37 AM 97.3.4 -0500, Brian Boisvert wrote:

>
>Well, actually there is a problem.  It's called guaranteed contracts:
>
>>|   PG  Dana Barros               $3,400,000 let go
>>|    G  Dee Brown                 $3,250,000 let go
>>|  PF-C Pervis Ellison            $1,760,000 let go
>
>We don't have the option to simply "let go" of these players (if we did,   
>Dee would have been gone over a year ago).  

Well, strictly speaking is this true? No one on this list has been able to
answer the question of what happens if you simply let a player go. Yes, you
have to pay him, but does that salary count against the cap? If not then it
is simply a question of how much the management is willing to shell out to
swallow past mistakes. I understand the Knicks did something similar in
trading Charles Smith to the Spurs. They still pay part of Smith's salary
even though he no longer contributes to their team. 

I would add that if I were Gaston et al. I wouldn't bother doing something
this extreme right now, but it might be an option for the next few years.

- -Marc