Freeman: Blazers Awarded Hardship Exception
Joe Freeman of The Oregonian writes...
----------
The Trail Blazers have finally received a dose of good news surrounding their injury-depleted roster.
The NBA has awarded the Blazers a hardship exception, giving them the option of signing a 16th player to the roster for a short-term basis. Teams are eligible for the exception after four players on a roster miss at least three games and are expected to miss two additional weeks.
----------
Coincidentally (or not?), former Blazer Shavlik Randolph just cleared waivers this morning and is officially a free agent.
-------------------
Update (7:12PM): A detail or two to add after speaking with Tom Penn this afternoon. First, Penn said that both the Blazers management and coaching staff will be a part of the decision whether or not to use the exception and, if they do use it, the coaches will be part of the decision-making process on which player it is used on. Penn wouldn't elaborate on any specific needs that the team was looking to address but did say the team has a short list of players already in mind in case the organization does decide to use the exception.
Second, if used, the exception would be a pro-rated minimum contract based on the number of days between the contract's signing date and the end of the season. The player signed would be paid in full for the year at the minimum salary that his experience level dictates regardless of whether he must be cut to make room for healthy players coming back.
Here's a full and accurate account of how this might play out financially from Storyteller.
-------------------
If the player signed this week, he would be paid roughly 69% of a full year's salary if the contract is pro-rated.
A rookie making the minimum ($457,588) plays for 69% of the season and his salary is pro-rated. The team pays him $315,736 and the league reimburses nothing to the team.
A veteran with 2 years of service making the minimum ($825,497) plays for 69% of the season and his salary is pro-rated. The team pays him $569,593 and the league reimburses nothing to the team.
A veteran with 4 years of service making the minimum ($884,881) plays for 69% of the season and his salary is pro-rated. The team pays him $610,568 and the league reimburses nothing to the team.
A veteran with 10 years of service making the minimum ($1,306,455) plays for 69% of the season and his salary is pro-rated. The team pays him $901,454 and the league reimburses $75,957 back to the team, which is the difference between what the player earned and $825,497.
So, the league only makes a reimbursement to the team when the amount earned (pro-rated or not) exceeds $825,497. It doesn't do a reimbursement on a straight percentage of a pro-rated contract.
-------------------
Considering that, barring another injury, a player signed using this exception would likely be a one-month rental until either Jeff Pendergraph, Rudy Fernandez or Patty Mills returns, that cost is a definite issue. Is it worth, say, half a million dollars to have an extra body for the next month? It probably is, especially if you're the Blazers coaching staff. But the money issue is there.
-- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter
about 2 years ago
Ben Golliver
103 comments
0 recs |
Email
PrintComments
gotta get a 5
How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009
2nd option would be a defensive '3'
How did you guys win that?
"We scored enough points. We scored 107, they scored 105.
-Nate McMillan Postgame, 3/4/2009
Although I like Shav
me thinks we need a bigger body than him. How about the Mountain Man?
52 + 88 = 140% better team.
by xedubx on Dec 16, 2009 3:17 PM PST reply actions 2 recs
That could work, he's in the D-League for Tulsa
Though the most effective C in the DL right now is probably John Bryant. Rod Benson might be another option (6’10" PF) with some small NBA experience. A player in Europe under contract will probably not want to leave it for a chance to play 2 weeks for the Blazers if his deal is any good.
Miller - Roy - Webster - Aldridge - Przybilla. Is that so hard?
AK’s favorite Dwayne Jones could also work http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/index.jsp?player=dwayne_jones
Miller - Roy - Webster - Aldridge - Przybilla. Is that so hard?
Never seen Bryant in action...
But based on his stats, he seems like a plodder. Benson would be fun for obvious reason (with him being a prolific blogger) but is undersized.
Where is Jones right now? I didn’t see him in the active list in NBDL. I mentioned Hill because he would be familiar with the offense and the players and is definitely available.
52 + 88 = 140% better team.
I would love this.
Steven Hill would be perfect. Big body to spell Przy until Pendergraph gets back. He plays hard and does all the things you need to do off the bench.
Portland Trail Blazers, Future World Champions 2010-2021.
Chris Mimh?
anyone know where to find a list of available guys?
Stromile Swift
He was in pre-camp workouts, but Jarren Collins got the nod for veteran camp
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
He's in Germany since 2006, now with Oldenburg (1st league, mid-tier team). Occasionally for national team. To not much success.
He’s averaging 5.5 rebounds and 8 points this season. Making him something like the 5th best player on his team. But he looks good in yellow.
Miller - Roy - Webster - Aldridge - Przybilla. Is that so hard?
Von Wafer?
Robert Swift?
Kareem Rush?
Melvin Ely?
Any of those sound appealing? What if we sign Darius Miles?
Get well Greg! Rip City is still behind you!
YEAH! Why don't we just sign Von Wafer?
Remember how he torched us in the playoffs? We could use a guy with the energy/skill like he does.
he'd be a plus
All the police reports and such would divert us from the teams on court troubles
"Better, not good, but better." - Herb Brooks
by DucRider on Dec 16, 2009 4:10 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Dontell Jefferson.
Norsktroll convinced me. Great defender who’s killing it the D-league and played pretty well in a few games for the Bobcats last season.
by Nick Van Excellent on Dec 16, 2009 3:37 PM PST reply actions
That's a PG ;-)
I like him quite a lot, but I doubt the Blazers need that at the moment.
Miller - Roy - Webster - Aldridge - Przybilla. Is that so hard?
Sure, sure.
Wouldn’t that still make a tiny bit of sense if they traded one of the PG’s? At least it would give them a little bit more flexibility, plus he seems interesting.
Plus, Cunningham isn’t even getting minutes. So ifg they sign someone it’s going to have to be a big who’s more capable than Howard, Cunningham, or Pendergraph.
I’m not sure any of those exist.
by Nick Van Excellent on Dec 16, 2009 3:42 PM PST up reply actions
You think Nate's going to play him over Howard?
I doubt it.
The hardship exception is nice, but I can’t see Nate really playing anyone who’s not already in the rotation. It seems like it would be more useful as a way for KP to get more flexibility when it comes to making a trade.
by Nick Van Excellent on Dec 16, 2009 3:51 PM PST up reply actions
Cunningham doesn't seem to be as effective as the 4 alongside a small 5
He plays better with a prototypical 5, in my opinion. Didn’t the Blazers play against some D-League center named “Hunter”, earlier in the year? What about him???
by blacknoiseNW on Dec 16, 2009 3:46 PM PST up reply actions
Aaaaaayyyyy!
"My shoulder is OK. And away we go." -- Nic Batum
"wang-dang diddly wubba SPROING wow-wow" -- Dave
Is this good for the season or until one of our injured comes back?
Let's do it for the big man!...and Rudy!....and Nic!...and, uh, Trout, Pendy, Patty, Mo, Mr. Allen, and Nate!
Rehab With Us
I found it...
If the Blazers exercise the exception, they would sign a player to a non-guaranteed contract and he would be eligible to remain with the team until one of their four most-recent injured players returns. Essentially, the Blazers would keep any player they sign until Rudy Fernandez (back) or Nicolas Batum (shoulder) returns.
Until one of our four most recent returns: Rudy, Oden, Outlaw, Batum…Sounds like it would be longer than 2 weeks if Rudy isn’t coming back until mid to late January. Do you mean 2 week contracts until then?
Let's do it for the big man!...and Rudy!....and Nic!...and, uh, Trout, Pendy, Patty, Mo, Mr. Allen, and Nate!
Rehab With Us
But he's not one of the four most recently injured
Disclaimer: everything I know about basketball I learned on Blazersedge.
Yes
You basically have to prove every 2 weeks that none of the 4 guys last injured will be returning for another 2 weeks. Pendergraph would seem to be able to come back with the exception still valid. Only once Rudy returns it would be gone.
Miller - Roy - Webster - Aldridge - Przybilla. Is that so hard?
thanks Norsk!
Let's do it for the big man!...and Rudy!....and Nic!...and, uh, Trout, Pendy, Patty, Mo, Mr. Allen, and Nate!
Rehab With Us
I think we need a PG from the D-league.
Pritchard said that you can never have too many point guards.
πεντήκοντα δύο
Let me see if I have this right
JP will be the first of the wounded to return but we will still have 4 guys out so whomever we sign is here till Rudy is back?
by southern oregon on Dec 16, 2009 3:53 PM PST reply actions
I want a big bruiser
I don’t know who but a rebounding putter back upper like Zach, but more team oriented. Is that too much to ask?
Can we then trade that 16th contract???
And, did anyone else see LA’s limp last night? I wonder how bad his ankle is.
one good twist
From missing 10 games
"Better, not good, but better." - Herb Brooks
by DucRider on Dec 16, 2009 4:16 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
He's been playin in pain.
Cause he’s a stud
by DowntownVinnie on Dec 16, 2009 4:34 PM PST up reply actions
Any one have an educated guess on return timelines
For Rudy,JP and Mills?
by southern oregon on Dec 16, 2009 4:37 PM PST reply actions
JP and Mills should be back in Jan
but Portland can keep #16 around until Rudy is ready
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Re: number don't seem right
its a non-guaranteed contract that would provide insurance or coverage until one (any) of the players returns. because it is not a 10 -day or such, they have to pay them for the whole year.
Thanks, but that does not sit well with me
It would discourage a team from picking up a player. And therefore possibly keep a player from getting an opportunity and a payday. Of course, if the team decides to endure the cost, the player would seem to be hitting the jackpot.
#52
keep in mind...
oden’s injury is probably being covered by insurance, meaning his 5.3 million paycheck is not coming out of Paul’s checkbook. plus, i think Oden’s injury qualified us for this hardship, so the insurance would prolly pay for some of this expense as well… not sure on the exact amount tho.
But I think Oden's salary and the new exception player's salary bouth go against cap.
uh, I think at least. Someone had a very thorough post regarding specifics of such an exception a few weeks back. Anyone know where to dig it up? I think it was a link to another SB site.
An Oregonian in Texas.
by NoiseMekanik on Dec 16, 2009 5:15 PM PST up reply actions
Since when are employers ....
… obligated to hire someone just to give them an opportunity and a payday?
hakkaa päälle !
He wasn't saying they were obligated
I don’t think he was, anyway. I think he’s saying requiring the contract to cover the whole season provides a disincentive to employers to hire. It is the same argument often made against a minimum wage — by setting the wage higher, you increase the likelihood that employers will make do without another employee, if they can.
I suppose the reasoning behind it is that teams are getting a break with this, and so it should cost them more than usual.
#52
I recall reading awhile back...
that the player must come from the D-League. Anyone got any light to shed?
An Oregonian in Texas.
It would seem so.
If not you could just sign him to your D-league team and then to Hardship Exception.
An Oregonian in Texas.
by NoiseMekanik on Dec 16, 2009 5:16 PM PST up reply actions
From Wikipedia
Disabled Player Exception: Allows a team that is over the cap to acquire a replacement for a disabled player who will be out for either the remainder of that season (for in-season injuries/deaths) or the next season (if the disability occurs during the offseason). The maximum salary of the replacement player is either 50% of the injured player’s salary, or the average salary, whichever is less. This exception requires an NBA-designated doctor to verify the extent of the injury.
Note that while teams can often use one exception to sign multiple players, they cannot use a combination of exceptions to sign a single player.
…..
I would guess this would be needed because while we are under cap at present, %50 percent of Greg’s salary would put us over?
An Oregonian in Texas.
That's a different exception
And this year the Blazers can’t get this one for Greg since he got injured after November 30 (which is the cutoff date). Only might be possible for Travis if he is ruled out for the season, but that is doubtful.
Miller - Roy - Webster - Aldridge - Przybilla. Is that so hard?
I say we write off the season
Get Darius Miles in here, and run him 40 minutes a game until his knees explode. Just out of spite. Do we even have to pay him the $500k since we’re still paying his last contract?
Why would we punish him?
All he wanted was to play basketball again. If anyone’s to blame it’s the Grizzlies.
by Nick Van Excellent on Dec 16, 2009 5:36 PM PST up reply actions
Why would Darius want to do that?
Even though we waived him, we can’t UN-waive him—i.e. reactivate his old contract.
We have existing obligations to Miles until the end of the year. He has no obligations to us.
That’s what waiving a player (with a guaranteed deal) is all about.
I am Spartacus and I approved this message
by EngineerScotty on Dec 16, 2009 6:07 PM PST up reply actions
I'm just joking around
Though I believe D. Miles earned the career he got. I realize he just wanted to play again. I just wish he wanted to play right after we paid him all that money to do exactly that. I think many injuries are the result of not taking the job seriously and training properly.
I am down with bringing back the Shav or the mountain man...
I think both could be useful…
RUDY > MJ
#52
I have a hunch we will sign no one. I heard Penn on 95.5 the game and he said "we're not even sure we want to use it."
Oden fan for life
probaby won't
unless we have another injury..LMA is playing through injury so they ultimately might use it to rest him for a couple weeks if it comes down to it…
#52. Get well soon.
by Eat Politicians on Dec 16, 2009 5:57 PM PST up reply actions
you know what portland's problem is
not enough Rod Benson
You're saying that they look like they're giving it their all. And you know why they look that way? Because they're bad, and it literally takes them the maximum physical effort to accomplish basic baseball tasks like throwing the ball from short to first. When David Eckstein throws the ball to first base, he has to wind up like a shot-putter, spin around forty-three times, and launch it at an angle 89 degrees from the horizontal. Afterwards, he undergoes an IV drip for a fortnight and he's so out of breath that he requires several months of acupuncture to regain the power of speech. For this we laud him. -Junior of Deadspin on 'scrappy' players
not enough Rick Brunson?
what?
I have a love/hate relationship with the Cardinals' middle relief corps. | Cards on Cards
NOT ENOUGH ROD BENSON!
You're saying that they look like they're giving it their all. And you know why they look that way? Because they're bad, and it literally takes them the maximum physical effort to accomplish basic baseball tasks like throwing the ball from short to first. When David Eckstein throws the ball to first base, he has to wind up like a shot-putter, spin around forty-three times, and launch it at an angle 89 degrees from the horizontal. Afterwards, he undergoes an IV drip for a fortnight and he's so out of breath that he requires several months of acupuncture to regain the power of speech. For this we laud him. -Junior of Deadspin on 'scrappy' players
by TheOdenator on Dec 17, 2009 10:25 AM PST up reply actions
post updated with more accurate information from storyteller. sorry for any confusion caused by the earlier update. thanks — Ben , 7:19PM
We need
Somebody who can bring some energy off the bench and block shots down in the paint. Hey, how about Jerryd Bayless?
I think I found a body ---
Peter John Ramos
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xacdgv_piratas-de-quebradillas-grandes-rec_sport
(kinda reminds me of GO at 7:00 / 10:15; then again, that could be his entire season’s highlights)
Anyone actually know anything about him?
No expert - but that need not stop having opinions
Cunningham, who I like, is 6’8" 230 1st year out of Villanova (real good program)
Pendergraph, who is a mystery is 6’9’ 240 1st year out of Arizona state (OK program)
Randolph is 6’10" 236 4th year out of Duke (elite program in which he excelled until an injury pushed him down the list; he went to Duke as the #1 player in the country that year)
Macus Camby is 6’11" 235, 13 years (he’s 35) out of Massachusetts, but what matters is he has been active this year with the Clippers (not a free agent, unless it happened yesterday) carrying 8.5 PPG, but get this 11 RPG 2 blocks/game.
This says to me Camby would be fabulous, easy first choice if no health issues. After him my pick is Randolph. He has genuine PF size; some meaningful NBA experience; should know the Blazers systems; and I have seen him play. My impression was nobody pushed him around, aggressive, good rebounder and pretty good scorer. Could never figure why he never got any minutes. Seems to me we could use some insurance and rest time for Joel, protection against the get the Blazer bigs foul program, and some rest for LMA. That’s my 2 cents.
by blazer_believer on Dec 16, 2009 11:51 PM PST reply actions
Does using this hit our capspace?
Anyone know? I’m assuming it does.
If that’s the case, then KP is unlikely to want to do it, unless he’s decided to stand pat for the year. That little bit of cap space gives a little more flexibility, and if he’s looking to deal, he’ll want that flexibility.
If he’s decided to go with the hand he’s been dealt, then grabbing some short term cover could definitely help.
#52
well, this signing it won't eat all of the capspace
and that still give KP the flexibility to make lopsided trades, for the next couple of months
What I’m wondering is if KP can choose to add Tolliver to future deals, or if there’s a period of time where AT can’t be traded away?
When reached 40 years of following Portland basketball you have, be as passionate of the Trail Blazers you will not!
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Roy Hibbert tap-dances to Maine
- Grizzlies Valentine’s Day cards are the key to love
- Kevin Love would like the NBA to take the MLB’s approach on All-Star games
- Kobe Bryant fires a few hilarious salvos at Jeremy Lin
- Brandon Jennings states the obvious regarding his 2014 free agency, everyone goes nuts
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
