agoo101284

This came up on the VGM thread in the Time Out board.

One of the commishes there said that teams over the cap get the MLE at $4.5 million and teams under the cap do not.

What I want to know is, would a team that's under the cap be given the MLE once they get over the cap through FA signings?

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Storyteller

OK, this is how I understand it:

On July 16th, every team is given a Mid-level Exception and (unless they used it last year) a $1 Million Exception. If a team is under the cap, then both of these are applied (even unused) against the Team Salary. Any Disabled Player exceptions, Trade exceptions, etc. are also applied towards the cap if the team is under the cap.

However, if at any point, the Team Salary (including unused exceptions) drops below the Salary Cap, the unused MLE and $1 Million exceptions drop off the books and the team loses them.

(BTW, the $1 Million exception is a bit of a misnomer, since it will be $1.5 million this year)


Example #1 - On July 16th, Team #1 has $60 million in committed salaries, and the Salary Cap is $42 million. Team #1 gets an MLE for $4.7 million and a $1.5 Million exception. These do not count again the cap, so their team salary is $60 million until they use these (or other) exceptions to sign players.


Example #2 - On July 16th, Team #2 has $40 million in committed salaries, and the Salary Cap is $42 million. Team #2 gets an MLE for $4.7 million and a $1.5 Million exception, which now are both added to the Team Salary. Team #2 now has a Team Salary of $46.2 million, and is free to use either exception.

Team #2 could renounce its $1.5 Million exception (bringing their Team Salary to $44.7 million) without any further consequences. However, if they renounced their MLE, their Team Salary would drop to $41.5 million which would be below the cap, and they would lose their $1.5 Million exception as well.


Example #3 - On July 16th, Team #3 has $20 million in committed salaries, and the Salary Cap is $42 million. Team #3 gets an MLE for $4.7 million and a $1.5 Million exception, which now are both added to the Team Salary. Team #3 has no Disabled Player exceptions or Traded Player exceptions that might also add to their Team Salary. Team #3 now has a Team Salary of $26.2 million. Because this figure is still under the cap, Team #3 loses both of the exceptions before they can use either one, and their Team Salary drops back down to $20 million.


Also, specific to your question, once a team loses their exceptions, they cannot get them back. They are lost for the entire year. So, no, a team that loses its MLE because it is under the cap cannot go over the cap by signing FA's, then get an MLE.

If this makes no sense to you, you can look at what Larry Coon has to say about it - perhaps his wording will click where mine failed:

Larry Coon on salary exceptions

agoo101284

I understand it now. Thanks man.

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arcade_rida

if i trade patterson and sabonis for Mckie snow and macChoula

and i buyout sabonis that will bring my cap space to -1,232,000
how much money will i have to sign free agents

NCBullsFan: Merged threads, see next post!

arcade_rida

if i trade patterson and sabonis for Mckie snow and macChoula

and i buyout sabonis that will bring my cap space to -1,232,000
how much money will i have to sign free agents

Dan Rosenbaum

So Cal Blazer Fan does a good job of answering this question in an earlier post in this thread.

http://www.basketballboards.net/foru...793#post464793

arcade_rida

DO u have to spend all ur MLE or can u spend like 3.5 of it and spend 1 million on another person

Dan Rosenbaum

Please read Larry Coon's FAQ for your answer. For questions like this one, there really isn't much need to ask for clarification of what Larry has already written.

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#17

MID-LEVEL SALARY EXCEPTION -- This exception is also called the "Middle Class Exception." This exception says that a team can offer any player a contract equal to the average NBA salary every year, even if they are over the cap. This exception is new to the current CBA, and was "ramped up" to the average salary over a period of four years (see question number 22 for the definition of "average salary"). Here is the value of the mid-level salary exception for each year of the CBA:

98-99 $1.75 million
99-00 $2.00 million
00-01 $2.25 million
01-02 $4,538,000 (108% of the average salary from 00-01)
02-03 $4,546,000 (108% of the average salary from 01-02)
03-04 108% of the average salary from 02-03
04-05 108% of the average salary from 03-04

This exception may be split and given to multiple players. It may be used for contracts of up to six years in length. Signing a player to a multi-year contract does not affect a team's ability to use this exception every year. For example, a team can sign a player to a six-year contract using this exception and still use the exception the following year to sign another player. Also see question number 18 for more information on the availability and use of this exception.

arcade_rida

thanxs Blazers and NC Bulls u guyz are great

Andy

Is it possible to use the MLE to accept additional salary in a trade involving a BYC player?

Storyteller

No. It can only be used to sign one or more FA's.

Also, any player signed with the MLE cannot be signed-and-traded.

arcade_rida

hey aaaaa if ur over the cap can u sign a player to League minuim thanxs