Looks like the moderators here are not doing their job.
You should know ZO's contract situation now Aurelino but in case anyone is still wondering, ZO's contract is fully guaranteed, which means the Nets will have to pay the 4-year remaining salaries they owe ZO. ZO's contract will count against the cap until two full years later. In this month 2005, ZO's remaining two years of salaries will come off the book if he never came back and the league 'officially agreed' he's retired.
I suppose the only exception the Nets will get is the 'Disabled Player Exception', which is half the amount of ZO's salary (actually it is half of the player's salary, or half of the MLE, whichever is less but in this case, it doesn't matter since ZO's getting MLE-type salaries). I doubt the league will grant this exception to the Nets however, since ZO's illness is well-known before he signed with Nets. If the Nets do get the exception, they can use it to sign only ONE player, or add it to a trade involve other players to balanced out the salary difference, kind of like a trade exception.