Contract and Cap Info

by Dave on Jun 23, 2008 1:51 PM PDT

With all of the cap talk today it's a good time to mention a couple of important sources of information.

For cap clarification (at least as clear as it can be made) I head first to Larry Coon's Salary Cap FAQ Site.

For salary info I like to look up our old friend Storyteller here. He has all the numbers you'd want, color-coded for easy reference.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

P.S. These are both permalinked in the sidebar now for your convenience.

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Hey

Both links lead to Storyteller’s salaries page. You might want to edit the first link.

by bleedingblackandred on Jun 23, 2008 2:09 PM PDT reply actions

Fixed

Thanks.

—Dave

by Dave on Jun 23, 2008 5:17 PM PDT up reply actions

FYI

I’ve also put up a preliminary page for 2008-09, complete with disclaimer about the holes in the information.

http://www.storytellerscontracts.info/7.html

or for the spreadsheet itself

http://www.storytellerscontracts.info/resources/08-09salaries.htm

by Storyteller on Jun 23, 2008 2:23 PM PDT reply actions

That’s interesting. In your notes it says that Przy has a trade kicker. I am assuming that means that if he is traded before the contract expires he will get $$ from the Blazers? That seems like a way to encourage players “to take less” to sign with us … and it doesn’t count for the cap or luxury tax … is there any sort of “hold” on that money?

If it keep on Tradin', the Team gonna break - BlueBooYay 6/21/08

by jorga on Jun 23, 2008 2:55 PM PDT up reply actions

No hold beforehand

If he’s traded, the team he’s traded to must pay him that money immediately as a bonus – then it gets applied against the cap in increments.

So, if a player has 3 years remaining on his contract at $1 million per year and has a trade kicker for $1 million, he actually gets paid:

$1 million today
$1 million in the 2008-09 season
$1 million in the 2009-10 season
$1 million in the 2010-11 season

However, it gets applied against the cap thusly:

$1.333 million in 2008-09
$1.333 million in 2009-10
$1.333 million in 2010-11

by Storyteller on Jun 23, 2008 3:10 PM PDT reply actions

I posted this question on the other page, but I think it might have got lost.

Don’t capspace holds only last until a player is signed or renounced?
The $27 million problem will only be at the beginning of the summer. If we are looking to sign one of the free agents, then this matters greatly. If we are planning on using it to eliminate trade problems, signing or renouncing the players will free up the affected capspace.

Since none of the free agents are that attractive, or available, the capspace is most likely going to be used to equalize trades. Those trades can be made later in the summer, and even up to the 2009-2010 trading deadline, when teams start to get desperate for a trading partner. And with all that capspace, we are the perfect trading partner for the entire league.

Granted, that is taking a chance, in that the trade we want may never come around, but the worst that happens is that Portland saves money in luxury taxes, and misses an opportunity. But the window to use that opportunity is bigger than we realize. Unless I am missing something. Am I?

I just want to see if I am understanding this right.

One of Two Official Blazer's Edge Poets Laureate for the 2008-2009 Season

Chaplain of the Jarrett Jack Fan Club

"Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary." - Patrick McManus

by T Darkstar on Jun 23, 2008 6:08 PM PDT reply actions

Yes, you have it right about the signed or renounced thing

Sorry I didn’t mention it sooner.

However, in this situation the cap hold remaining only until a player is signed is bad enough to make avoidance prudent. Consider:

1. We do not want to cut any of these players. We paid out assets to get them. Cutting them for nothing means we lose assets without gaining any. Leaving the matter open until next summer means we run the risk of having to cut them in order to get their hold off of our cap should we need it to sign another free agent or make a deal. That’s a bad risk.

2. The chance of missing most of the summer bargaining period while they are RFA’s is a big deal. If we’re thinking a premium free agent then we need to strike July 1. They go quick. Other guys are probably not going to wait around for an offer while we diddle with our youngsters either. If we’re the highest offer or the only offer, sure, but if they can sign the same contract for sure in July they’re not going to wait until September for us. Also you never know what trades you are missing. Many deals happen quickly and by cover of night. Often in order to get your guy you have to be proactive. You don’t want to be delaying deals by months.

3. In any case waiting until the summer means using three times as much of an asset (cap space) as is necessary to get the job done. If the Blazers want Martell they’re going to try and sign Martell for $5 million a year this September. There’s no need-in fact it’s bad business-to let him take up $12 million of the cap next summer to get that same $5 million contract when he could and should be taking only $5 million.

For these reasons you’re going to see these player signed early if we want to retain them. If they don’t sign early it probably means we don’t want them or they’re refusing to work with us without testing the market and their other possibilities. In either case a trade seems likely.

—Dave

by Dave on Jun 23, 2008 9:09 PM PDT up reply actions

Great work

You have broken down the cap masterfully. Great job explaining a very complex topic.

by bleedingblackandred on Jun 23, 2008 11:51 PM PDT up reply actions

The other reason they might not sign early

We haven’t decided yet if we want them or not.

It doesn’t necessarily mean we don’t want them. It may just mean they haven’t persuaded us yet.

I could see KP telling Jarrett, “I’m not going to offer you an extension because you haven’t proved you’re part of the solution yet. But we’re not trading you away, because we think you can be part of the solution, and we want to give you this year to show it.” That could be another reason for no extension happening this summer.

This is more of a possibility with Jarrett than the other guys because his cap hold really won’t be that high, in comparison, so getting a final resolution on Jarrett is less important than the other guys.

I somewhat expect both Martell and Channing to extend this summer for good contracts that keep them very tradeable in future. I do not expect Jarrett to be extended this summer, whether he is traded or not.

Other people don't have as much practice at being wrong as I do -- HT, timbo

by jscot on Jun 24, 2008 12:23 AM PDT up reply actions

Thank you,

This helps me understand all the options much better.

One of Two Official Blazer's Edge Poets Laureate for the 2008-2009 Season

Chaplain of the Jarrett Jack Fan Club

"Scholars have long known that fishing eventually turns men into philosophers. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to buy decent tackle on a philosopher's salary." - Patrick McManus

by T Darkstar on Jun 24, 2008 5:24 AM PDT up reply actions

Nice job today Dave on 95.5FM

I trust you Dave that what you say is true, nary verily so. Not sure if you mentioned you were going to contribute on air today as I was gone fishin this weekend, but if you didnt you should.

Hope you continue to get more air-play. I know karma exists because Wheels just announced Playboy Buddy Rose is pulling on your coat tail.

I havent forgot either. Dave rules!!!

If you dont talk to your cats about catnip, who will?

by bow4meow on Jun 23, 2008 6:19 PM PDT reply actions