Free Agency
- Thread starter sactowndog
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Bonuses are paid on the basis of performance during the actual contract year.
However, the tricky thing is the salary cap. Before the season, bonuses are categorized as "likely" bonuses and "unlikely" bonuses, the former being charged to the salary cap (even though they might not be met) and the latter not being charged to the salary cap (even though they might be met).
Typically, the likely/unlikely determination is made based on the previous season - if the player would have met the bonus, it is likely. However, there is a method for arbitration in case there is a disagreement about which bonuses are likely and which are not.
It would appear that none of Hield's bonuses would be charged to the Kings' salary cap this year.
However, the tricky thing is the salary cap. Before the season, bonuses are categorized as "likely" bonuses and "unlikely" bonuses, the former being charged to the salary cap (even though they might not be met) and the latter not being charged to the salary cap (even though they might be met).
Typically, the likely/unlikely determination is made based on the previous season - if the player would have met the bonus, it is likely. However, there is a method for arbitration in case there is a disagreement about which bonuses are likely and which are not.
It would appear that none of Hield's bonuses would be charged to the Kings' salary cap this year.
Interesting stuff! Would that mean that the Kings technically have an incentive (from a salary cap perspective) to ensure Buddy didn't meet any bonus benchmarks last season? Since the bonus contract hadnt kicked in. Also, would the incentives still be in play if he were traded? If so, that's a good amount of money that Buddy stands to gain by sole virtue of being moved to a playoff team.
Yes, technically the Kings would have had a salary cap incentive to ensure Buddy didn't make his bonuses, but I doubt they would have had much control over them. He was 21 threes short of Harden, so it's not like there was a reason to bench him at the end of the season to make sure he didn't get there. They'd never even dream of deliberately missing the playoffs to get a salary cap advantage of $500K the next year!
Incentives follow the contract. They actually get recalculated in a trade, so if Buddy were traded to a team that was in the playoffs last year, his salary cap trade value would be different for us than it would be for the team he was being traded to. His contract is big enough that it probably washes out, but it could put a kink in a deal if things went exactly wrong.
Incentives follow the contract. They actually get recalculated in a trade, so if Buddy were traded to a team that was in the playoffs last year, his salary cap trade value would be different for us than it would be for the team he was being traded to. His contract is big enough that it probably washes out, but it could put a kink in a deal if things went exactly wrong.
I do feel like with analytics heavy front office, sometimes you see a signing of a player that seems so out of left field (and...”anti-analytics”) that you question whether they really are using analytics to value players. I think often they have dug so deep in the numbers that they feel like they have identified a very specific role on the court where they feel the player can be used to extract wins at a high rate, or at least that the player can be had for a salary less than his computed win share would imply. I suspect that must be what’s happening here with whiteside. Either that or his agent is just spreading rumors LOL
There might be something to that. And it likely depends on how you define “analytics” and what specific stats you look at. The new catch-all rating John Hollinger put together to value this year’s free agents values Whiteside at just over $17 million.
https://theathletic.com/2177235/202...l-lead-thin-class/?source=user_shared_article
https://theathletic.com/2177235/202...l-lead-thin-class/?source=user_shared_article
Keep that MLE too. Who knows what might happen during the season you could score something nice with it if a team stretches or waives someone that you wouldn't expect. If the Kings are competitive they will be with what they have. If not, there are no signings right now in and of themselves that will turn this team from garbage to gold.
There were a lot of factors. There was the injury history. There were the questions about how interested he was in playing basketball. There was the fact that he had dropped about 30 spots from where he was projected to be drafted for reasons unknown combined with the near certainty that we didn't have his medical records. I don't think we interviewed him or worked him out due to his projected draft range. Whether Justin James turns out to be a decent pick or a wasted one, for the Kings to draft Bol at 40 would have been like jumping on a grenade and hoping whoever threw it had forgotten to pull the pin.
And that's before considering that the kind of stuff we saw with Haliburton this year (whose agent evidently steered him to the Kings by discouraging other teams to draft him) is apparently quite a bit more prevalent in the second round, particularly for some of the higher-level second rounders. Kris Wilkes, for example was a 2019 fringe first rounder who didn't get drafted at all and immediately signed a contract with the Knicks (evidently previously agreed to). There were stories to the effect that he had steered teams away from drafting him, and Bol may have done the same.
And that's before considering that the kind of stuff we saw with Haliburton this year (whose agent evidently steered him to the Kings by discouraging other teams to draft him) is apparently quite a bit more prevalent in the second round, particularly for some of the higher-level second rounders. Kris Wilkes, for example was a 2019 fringe first rounder who didn't get drafted at all and immediately signed a contract with the Knicks (evidently previously agreed to). There were stories to the effect that he had steered teams away from drafting him, and Bol may have done the same.
+1 to this.
If you're not a top 5, sure fire draft pick it makes sense to do what you can to maneuver yourself into a good situation. Certain teams (Denver, OKC, Toronto etc) have a good reputation for developing young players and being patient with them. The Kings aren't one of those teams.
A lot is made of Sacramento being a small market, not a desirable place for NBA players to live and so on. There's some legitimacy to those excuses but the much bigger issue is that this has been a poorly run franchise for a long time. When (if?) that starts to change it will fix a lot of woes.
If you're not a top 5, sure fire draft pick it makes sense to do what you can to maneuver yourself into a good situation. Certain teams (Denver, OKC, Toronto etc) have a good reputation for developing young players and being patient with them. The Kings aren't one of those teams.
A lot is made of Sacramento being a small market, not a desirable place for NBA players to live and so on. There's some legitimacy to those excuses but the much bigger issue is that this has been a poorly run franchise for a long time. When (if?) that starts to change it will fix a lot of woes.
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I had posted about this in the past regarding the 2nd round, there are lots of articles about it how it's all a smokescreen built around pre-arranged deals and that players beg not to be drafted in the 2nd round if they aren't picked in the first now.
If anything, Monte's apparent excellent picking this year broke that narrative a bit. But I am also thinking that this year may be "special" due to the lack of the tournament and traditional workouts. Still - on the surface it appears everybody we drafted was projected to be gone by the time we picked them, and I like that.
If anything, Monte's apparent excellent picking this year broke that narrative a bit. But I am also thinking that this year may be "special" due to the lack of the tournament and traditional workouts. Still - on the surface it appears everybody we drafted was projected to be gone by the time we picked them, and I like that.
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA
Lakers officially waive Jordan Bell, who they acquired in exchange for JaVale McGee in the trade with the Cavs. pic.twitter.com/fdB1B1A7od
Age 25
Height 6'8
Mobile, defensive big
Lakers officially waive Jordan Bell, who they acquired in exchange for JaVale McGee in the trade with the Cavs. pic.twitter.com/fdB1B1A7od
Age 25
Height 6'8
Mobile, defensive big
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