Just before the 11:00pm CST amnesty deadline, the Clippers used the amnesty provision to waive Ryan Gomes, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. By amnestying Gomes, Los Angeles clears the final year of his deal, worth $4MM, from its cap, though the team will still have to pay him.
The decision to amnesty Gomes doesn't clear any cap space for the Clippers, but it gives them a bit more breathing room. Having used their full mid-level exception on
Jamal Crawford, the Clips will be hard-capped at the "tax apron" (about $74MM) this season.
Taking into account Crawford's $5MM salary, Chauncey Billups' $4.3MM salary, and the $1.957MM bi-annual exception that Turner reports the Clippers will spend on Grant Hill, the team was already hovering around the luxury tax threshold. Removing Gomes' $4MM from the equation will give the club the flexibility to sign a handful of minimum-salary players over the course of the year.
As our amnesty tracker shows, exactly half of the NBA's 30 teams have now used the amnesty clause, with seven cuts coming in 2011 and eight in 2012.
