Teams With Dead Money On Their Books

Not every dollar of each team’s payroll shows up on the court, as franchises often dish out funds to players who are no longer on their rosters. Players with guaranteed money who are waived, either through a standard waiver release, use of the stretch provision, or when a buyout arrangement is reached, still count against a team’s cap figure for the duration of their contracts, or the amount of time specified by the collective bargaining agreement for when a player’s salary is stretched. There are even situations that arise, like the one with JaVale McGee and the Sixers, where these players are actually the highest-paid on the team! McGee is set to collect $12MM from Philly, and he won’t score one point or collect one rebound for the franchise this season. The next highest-paid athlete on the Sixers’ roster is Gerald Wallace, who is scheduled to earn $10,105,855. He could conceivably be a buyout or waiver candidate himself at some point this season, though that is merely my speculation.

Listed below in alphabetical order are the names and cap hits associated with players who are no longer on the rosters of teams that still owe them money. Teams are able to carry as many as 20 players prior to the beginning of the regular season, so there will be quite a few training camp deals inked that include partially guaranteed funds. As franchises pare down their rosters to the regular season maximum of 15, any players cut loose with guaranteed money will be added to this list.

Boston Celtics

Brooklyn Nets

Chicago Bulls

Dallas Mavericks

Denver Nuggets

Detroit Pistons

Los Angeles Clippers

Memphis Grizzlies

Milwaukee Bucks

Philadelphia 76ers

Phoenix Suns

Sacramento Kings

The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.

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