Don't Call It The Alan Houston Rule

                

So the deadline for the Amnesty Clause has passed...and 18 teams took advantage of it in one form or another...saving a total of $212 million.  Far more teams than I ever expected used the one-time deal.

Here is the rule.  Every NBA team had a chance to dump one player from their roster.  Now, that player will be paid every penny he is owed from his contract...but that's player's contract will no longer go against the NBA's luxury tax...which requires a dollar-to-dollar rate.  That means that if the Spurs are $20M over the tax threshold...they owe $20M in taxes.  If they cut a player...they still owe that player his money....but that player's salary would NOT count against the cap.  The player [after clearing waivers] becomes an unrestricted free agent who cannot re-sign with the team that waived him until the actual contract with that team expires. 

The one name that was expected to be waived was Alan Houston.  The Knicks owe Houston $40M over the next two seasons.  This for a guy that has spent most of his time in the trainer's room.  Heck, the Amnesty Clause was even dubbed "The Alan Houston Rule".  The Knicks didn't cut him.  Why?  Wisdom is that Houston may have to retire due to medical reasons...and most of his salary would be paid by insurance. 

Instead, the Knicks waived Jerome "Junkyard Dog" Williams and his $21.3M left on his contract. 

But...there were plenty of names and faces that were "cut".

The biggest is Michael Finley.  The Mavericks cut their captain and saved $51M in taxes.  Finley, like Houston, has seen a lot of down time of late and the Mavs have guys in place who can help fill his role.  Finley will be a hot free agent since he may not command a high contract [he's getting $51M to not play for Dallas]. 

The Sixers waived Aaron McKie, the 2001 Sixth Man Of The Year, saving over $19M in tax money.  He also should get a lot of looks around the league.  So should ex-Blazer Derek Anderson, who has the distinction of being the first player to be cut using this clause.  He's already making the rounds looking for a new team. 

The Lakers were the biggest beneficiaries of this provision.  They dumped Brian Grant and his nearly $30M remaining contract.  Grant was acquired last summer in the Shaq deal...and his $15M per year cap number was a big reason why Shaq headed to Miami.

The Orlando Magic waived Doug Christie, ending a poor relationship that lasted only a few months.  Christie came to Orlando in a deal that sent Cuttino Mobley to Sacramento.  Christie's attitude wore thin with management and there were verbal sparring going on between the two over the summer.  Word is that he's already locked in to heading to Dallas. 

Calvin Booth, and his absurd $13M over the next two years, was waived by Milwaukee.  With Andrew Bogut entering the Bucks' paint...Booth wasn't badly needed anyway. 

                                 

There were some minor moves.  The Nets dropped Ron Mercer and his $1.76M deal that ended after this season.   Minnesota waived guard Fred Hoiberg, who's career may be over after heart surgery.  The Rockets also waived good-bye to Clarence Weatherspoon [he is still in the league?].   The smallest move was made by Memphis by dropping Troy Bell's $1.5M deal. 

A Hall Of Famer was "waived".  Well, kind of.  Indiana waived Reggie Miller which saves them $6M in taxes.  Miller retired after last season...but his contract still counts against the Pacers cap.  Waiving him saves them the money but they don't actually lose a player.

Other teams did a similar thing.  When a player gets his contract "bought out", his buy-out continues to count against that team's cap.  The Clause allows you to "waive"that buy out...so many teams did so.  Toronto waived Alonzo Mourning...though Zo never played a game for the Raptors.  Boston did the same for Vin Baker;  Detroit have Derrick Coleman off the books;  Miami loses Wesley Person; Chicago drops Eddie Robinson; and Phoenix relieved themselves of Howard Eisley. 

So, who are the winners??  Well, the players are.  Not only do they still get paid from their old teams....they also get new contracts with their new teams and in situations they want to be.  Take a guy like Finley, who may latch on to a title contender for a small price.  Brian Grant is already looking to join the Phoenix Suns.

Aside from that...it seems that everyone wins a little.  The owners don't have to pay as much tax money...which in turn may help the team move forward with some young guys instead of waiting for expensive "dead weight" to leave.  Take the Lakers.  They have Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum that they want to develop.  It's hard to play them when you are watching $15M worth of Brian Grant rotting at the end of the bench. 

So, an interesting chapter the the offseason [and this CBA] comes to and end.  Maybe in a few years, they will let us do it again!