Most Partial Guarantees Have Already Been Paid

The timing of the Lakers release of Elias Harris yesterday was financially motivated, and it had to do with the $100K partial guarantee on his contract. It’s the same calculus that would have forced the Cavaliers to release Matthew Dellavedova yesterday if they wanted to avoid paying him more than the $100K partial guarantee on his deal, which was identical to the one Harris signed. Dellavedova has played a key role for his team, unlike the little-used Harris, so Cleveland has seen fit to keep him beyond yesterday’s deadline to waive him so that he’d clear waivers before Tuesday, the day when his accrued salary will exceed $100K.

Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors explained earlier this month how the proration of salaries comes into play with partially guaranteed deals, pointing to Lance Thomas and his deal with the Pelicans as an example. Thomas had the league’s smallest partial guarantee to start the season, and even though he lasted only a couple weeks before New Orleans let him go, he had already earned more than his $15K guarantee, making the guarantee irrelevant in the team’s decision to waive him.

That’s the case for majority of players with partial guarantees at this point. Eleven of the 18 guys on partially guaranteed contracts have already earned more money than their guarantees cover, meaning they’re on de-facto non-guaranteed contracts. Their teams could waive them at any time and not owe them any extra money.

A handful of players still haven’t accrued as much as their partial guarantees, though the Bobcats and Jannero Pargo are scheduled to cross that threshold this weekend. Charlotte will have to waive Pargo by tomorrow so he’s off the roster by Wednesday, when his earnings will exceed $300K.

Three players have partial guarantees that they won’t exceed until after the leaguewide guarantee date of January 10th. That means the only date that matters to their teams is January 7th, the last day to place those guys on waivers without fully guaranteeing their contracts.

Here’s the complete list, broken down by category:

Already exceeded their partial guarantees

Will soon exceed their partial guarantees (player must be waived three days in advance of listed date)

Won’t exceed their partial guarantees until after the leaguewide guarantee date (January 10th)

ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.

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