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**PaCeRhOLiC** · 02-09-2006, 04:53 PM

Quote:

How Does Bender’s Announcement Affect Salary Cap?

Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006
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If you'd like to pose a Question of the Day to Conrad Brunner, submit it along with your full name and hometown to Bruno's_mailbag@pacers.com. Brunner’s opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Pacers players, coaches or management.
QUESTION
OF THE DAY
Conrad Brunner

Q. After reading the article on Jonathan Bender's retirement, I'm still confused. Why does the league have to approve whether his salary will come off the cap next year? Also, why can't the Pacers offer to buy his contract out and create the cap space that way? If I was going to get over $14 million over the next two years I wouldn't retire, either. (From Rich in Indianapolis)

A. You're not the only one dealing with some confusion over the potential financial ramifications of Bender's decision. The first thing that must be clarified is that, from a technical standpoint, it isn't a retirement. Bender's statement was that his knee injuries would no longer allow him to play. While the effect appears to be the same as a retirement in the eyes of the fans – his career is over – it is viewed very differently from a salary cap standpoint.

Any salary owed to retired player counts against the cap, even if that player no longer is on the roster. According to published reports, Bender has one year remaining on his contract with a salary of $7.8 million, as well as the remainder of this season, so to announce a retirement would be costly for the Pacers. If a player is forced to end his career because of injury, the NBA allows teams to apply for salary cap relief. It's a fairly complicated process that will take some time to resolve but the bottom line is that the league could grant the Pacers cap relief for both this season and next.

There is a difference between this situation and the application for an injured-player exception. In that instance, if a player effectively can be proven to have suffered a season-ending injury, a team can request an exception of up to one-half the injured player's salary in order to sign a replacement. While this is an option that remains on the table for the Pacers, they aren't pursuing it at this time.

There was no motivation for either side to consider a buyout. Once Jan. 10 passes, all player contracts are guaranteed for the remainder of the season so the full amount would still count against the cap. From Bender's standpoint, he would be agreeing to receive less money than the insurance on his contract will pay.

Go PaCeRs!!!

**Diable** · 02-10-2006, 09:35 PM

So long as his retirement is official before the end of next season you get relief from the luxury tax,which is calculated based upon your salary on the final day of the season.The rest of it I don't understand...I guess this means that the NBA can either say yes or no to salary cap relief.Logically you would think that they would get it,but logic doesn't always enter into the League's decisions.

**PaCeRhOLiC** · 02-11-2006, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diable

logic doesn't always enter into the League's decisions.

Exactly my thought...

Go PaCeRs!!!!

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