When the Sixers waived Eric Maynor on Monday, they did so even though he had a 2014/15 player option for more than $2.1MM. Assuming we don’t hear late news of a waiver claim today, the Sixers will owe Maynor that money, regardless of whether or not he intended to exercise the option at the end of the season. We haven’t heard any suggestion that the Sixers will use the stretch provision to soften the blow, meaning that they’ll enter the summer with a significant part of their 2014/15 cap figure already accounted for by a player who won’t play at all for them next season.
Maynor’s salary is a pittance compared to what Orlando already has committed to ex-Magic players for next season. The Magic didn’t use the stretch provision when they waived Glen Davis shortly after the trade deadline, meaning he’s presumably on the books for his full $6.6MM salary next season. Most reports indicated that Davis participated in a buyout arrangement, so perhaps he gave up a chunk of that amount. The terms of his buyout remain unknown. The Magic also waived Al Harrington before the season began. His contract for this season and next was only 50% guaranteed, but he’s still due more than $3.8MM for 2014/15. That amount could be lowered slightly if Harrington signs with another team, allowing the Magic to exercise their set-off rights. The same is true with Davis.
Still, Orlando figures to lead the league by a wide margin in terms of sunk costs for 2014/15, and that doesn’t even take into account the cash they still owe Gilbert Arenas, whom they waived via the amnesty provision. Amnestied salary doesn’t count against the cap, so we’re not including it for the purposes of this post. The Magic could be on the hook for more than $10.4MM combined for Davis and Harrington next season.
Here’s the complete list of teams that already know they’ll have former players counting against the cap 2014/15. Again, this doesn’t count players waived via the amnesty clause.
- Magic, Glen Davis, $6.6MM; Al Harrington, $3,804,900
- Sixers, Eric Maynor, $2,106,720
- Knicks: Metta World Peace, $1,661,550
- Suns: Michael Beasley, $777,778
- Grizzlies: Fab Melo, $437,080
- Bulls: Richard Hamilton, $333,333
Basketball Insiders and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.