Although new Cavaliers guard Kevin Pangos has no years of NBA service under his belt, he’s not receiving the rookie minimum on his new two-year deal with the team. As Keith Smith of Spotrac tweets, Pangos’ guaranteed first-year salary is $1,669,178, while his non-guaranteed second-year salary is $1,752,637.
Interestingly, while they don’t align with the rookie minimum, those two figures do show up on our minimum-salary chart for this season. Pangos’ first-year salary is the equivalent of the minimum salary for a player with two years of NBA experience. His second-year salary is the equivalent of the second-year minimum salary for a player who currently has one year of NBA experience.
Here are a few more contract details from around the league:
- Dante Exum‘s new three-year deal with the Rockets is even more complicated than initially reported. Exum’s base salaries increase by 8% annually ($2.5MM, $2.7MM, and $2.9MM), while his likely bonuses decrease by 8% per year ($2.5MM, $2.3MM, and $2.1MM). Exum also has some unlikely incentives which increase by 8% annually ($375K, $405K, and $435K). In total, his three-year deal could be worth as much as $16.215MM, but only his first-year base salary ($2.5MM) is guaranteed.
- As Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald notes, several of the Heat‘s newly-signed contracts include up-front payments. For instance, Kyle Lowry can get $21.25MM of his $26.98MM salary for 2021/22 by opening night, rather than receiving it in equal installments all season. Jimmy Butler‘s extension also features a substantial advance payment, while Duncan Robinson and P.J. Tucker are entitled to more modest ones.
- Speaking of Robinson, the final year of his new five-year contract with the Heat isn’t just an early termination option — it’s also only partially guaranteed. That means even if he opts into his fifth year, the Heat could save $10MM of his $19.888MM salary by waiving him. However, Robinson’s fifth-year salary would become fully guaranteed if Miami wins a title by that point and he meets certain minutes and games-played thresholds.
Heat is dark horse?
They can do
Robinson, Herro and Tucker for Simmons and Maxey later
76ers don’t need to pay tax after the deal
Give it a rest, man.
I wonder if the trend for upfront payments is anticipating a work stoppage as part of the next CBA negotiations…
Could be, I think they want to buy crypto earlier for cheaper.
Exum’s deal reminds me of the one Ricky Williams had with the Saints more than 20 years ago, although he was certainly a much bigger part of their team than Exum will be in Houston. It would seem that he should make the team since his base salary this season is guaranteed, but it’s still unlikely he will get regular minutes unless he really excels in preseason. At least he’s been given an opportunity to prove himself.
It’s more likely to be used like Keith Van Horns, Ryan Anderson’s or How the Cavs thought they would be able to use Bynums deal.
Look how many 2s Detroit got for DeAndre Jordan. Maybe he is traded for Royce O’Neal and save Utah a lot of money. There is so many ways to move a unguaranteed NBA contract especially for a guy that’s injury prone. It was a great creative deal that works for both sides.