Do you understand the ball|The Lakers show this wave of reinforcement to play a few points to take you to understand various signing methods
Within 24 hours of the opening of the free market, the Lakers showed up operations, and they not only achieved Plan A to retain DeAngelo Russell, Austin Reeves, and Hachimura, but also made a fortune to bring in Torrion Prince, Reddish, Vincent, and Hayes, achieving all-round reinforcements to the three lines.
In this wave of operations, out of 10 points, Pelinka's operation can score 9 points. From planning to targeted to professional, Pelinka is almost impeccable. Pelinka used the early Bird clause extension, the Byrd clause extension, the middle class exception, and the biennial special case to use the ways he could and put together a very deep lineup.
This issue of "Do You Know the Ball" will use the operation of the Lakers to help fans evaluate the operation of a team with a more professional perspective through actual cases.
Basic system
All operations of the NBA must be regulated by collective agreements, and as the league develops, collective agreements become more and more complete, with many specific terms. But no matter how many specific terms there are, everything must first be based on the determination of salary caps, luxury tax lines, and local tycoon lines. Teams face more challenges this year, as new collective bargaining agreements come out, hundreds of pages of specific terms remain to be dug deeper by teams, and teams are also scratching stones for details.
The salary cap is calculated from the projected BRI (basketball-related revenue) and next season's earnings, as the league has emerged from the pandemic for nearly two years, and revenue has skyrocketed, and the salary cap for the new season is $2 million higher than previously forecast, reaching $136.021 million.
The luxury tax line for the new season is $3 million higher than previously forecast, reaching $165.294 million.
The hard wage cap is $173.46 million, and after the new version of the collective agreement takes effect, the hard wage cap is also called the first local tyrant line. The collective bargaining agreement added a second local line, which is $182.794 million.
According to the rules, if a team uses the biennial exception, either takes on players by signing and swapping, or uses the middle-class exception that exceeds the amount of the luxury tax middle-class exception, the team will trigger the hard salary cap, and the total salary will not exceed the hard salary cap for the rest of the season.
Lakers show operation
Before the free market opened, the Lakers were ready. The Lakers cut Bamba, who was on a non-guaranteed contract, abandoned the team option to execute Malik Beasley, and cut Shaquille Harrison. After the three-handed operation, the Lakers got a full middle-class exception.
After that, the Lakers did the following:
$4.5 million signing for Prince for 1 year; 3-year, $33 million signing with Vincent; 3-year, $51 million renewal of the eight-village base; 2-year, $4.63 million signing Reddish; signed Hayes for $4.63 million over 2 years; 2-year, $37 million contract extension for Russell; Reeves was renewed for $53.8 million for 4 years.
There are several concepts involved in these operations.
1. Biennial exceptions and hard salary caps
The Lakers signed Prince for $4.5 million in 1 year to use the two-year exception, and the rules have been interpreted above, and when the Lakers decide to use the two-year exception, it means that they intend to operate under the hard salary cap, and the total salary for the entire season cannot exceed $173.46 million. Considering that the Lakers also intend to use middle-class special cases to strengthen and retain Russell, Hachimura, and Reeves, it is quite difficult to control the total salary below the hard salary cap. Perinka did, though.
2. Middle-class exceptions
The middle-class special case is divided into the full middle-class special case and the luxury tax middle-class exception. In the past two years, the Lakers have only been able to use the luxury tax middle-class exception because of the explosion of salary space, and they signed Nunn in 2021 and Lonnie Walker last year. This year, the Lakers finally got a full-mid-range exception, and they can offer a contract with a starting salary of $12.4 million to chase free agents.
The Lakers weighed it up and applied the middle-class exception to Vincent, who offered a three-year, $33 million contract, and Vincent earned $10.48 million a year next season.
3. Base salary
The Lakers signed Reddish and Hayes with base salaries. There are also different amounts for base salary contracts, and the amount of base salary varies depending on the year the player plays in the league. For example, the Grizzlies signed veteran Derek Rose with a base salary, but Rose's two-year contract is worth $6.55 million and next season's annual salary is $3.2 million. The Lakers signed Hayes and Reddish with a base salary of only 2 years and $4.63 million, and their annual salary is $2.17 million.
4. Byrd Clause
The Bird Clause, also known as the Bird Rights, means that a team can re-sign with its own team's free agent beyond the salary cap, and when a player has played for a team for three consecutive seasons, the player can satisfy the Byrd Clause, and the player who joins through the trade also carries the Byrd Clause, and the trade will not deprive him of the Byrd Clause.
Russell's extension to the Lakers is through the Bird clause, he joined in the middle of last season, with his own Bird clause, if the Lakers want, the Lakers can even give him a top salary. However, in the end, the Lakers retained Russell for a reasonable price of $37 million for 2 years.
In addition, Hachimura's extension to the Lakers was also through the Bird clause, and the difference between him and Russell is that he is not a full free agent, but a restricted free agent. The Lakers previously made a qualifying offer, making Hachimura a restricted free agent, and if other teams make offers, the Lakers can match to force retention. The Lakers didn't give other teams a chance to make offers, and they used Byrd's terms to offer a three-year, $51 million contract extension to Hachimura.
5. Early Bird Clause
Reeves is also a restricted free agent, but the difference between him and Hachimura is that the Lakers do not have his Bird clause and can only renew his contract with the Early Bird clause.
The Early Bird clause, which applies to players who have only been on one team for two consecutive seasons (usually a lost draft or second-round pick), can re-sign to a new contract with the team with a salary equal to 175% of the previous salary, or a new contract with a salary of 104.5% of the league's average salary, whichever is higher.
Reeves used the early Bird clause to renew the Lakers, according to the "Arenas clause", the team with salary space can give Reeves a contract of up to 4 years and $100 million, while the Lakers can open a contract of up to 4 years and $53.8 million under the early Bird clause. Because teams with salary space such as the Rockets and Spurs had no intention of offering Reeves, the Lakers eventually retained Reeves with the maximum 4-year $53.8 million that the Early Bird clause could take.
What else can the Lakers do next
Counting the two rookies this year, the Lakers already have 13 players on their books, and the signings are basically over. According to ESPN, the Lakers intend to sign one more player, and embark on a journey with 14 players in the new season, leaving one position vacant until the mid-season to make a trade or sign a player who was bought.
With the Lakers signing Russell and Reeves at a lower-than-expected price, the Lakers have little pressure to keep their total salaries below the hard salary cap. After officially signing the two rookies, the total salary of the 13 people on the Lakers' books still does not exceed the luxury tax line of $165.294 million, which is still $8.2 million short of the hard salary cap.
If the Lakers plan to chase free agents from other teams in the market, the Lakers can only offer a base-salary contract.
If the Lakers plan to make the most of the $8 million space between gross salaries and hard salary caps, they could consider using Byrd's terms to re-sign Beasley to a contract with an annual salary of about $5 million.
They could consider resigning Walker on non-Byrd clauses (for players who have only been on a team for one year, and the team can offer them new contracts that are 120 percent of their previous salary), under which the Lakers can give Walker up to $7.8 million a year. The Lakers can't give that high, $5 million is acceptable to the Lakers.
One of the big advantages for the Lakers is that because of the trigger of the hard salary cap, their total salary will inevitably not trigger the second local tyrant line, which means that they can still pick up leaks in the middle of the season and sign players who have been bought. And teams like the Warriors that exceed the second local tycoon line no longer have this condition. In the middle of the season, the Lakers had the space and position to sign the 15th.
epilogue
From the operation of the Lakers' free market this year, the Lakers have taken advantage of the available conditions to the extreme, and the prices they offer to sign and renew players are basically reasonable prices, and some contracts are even lower than the market price, and the reinforcement also leaves room for further reinforcement in the middle of the season. Being able to do this without triggering the hard salary cap, Pelinka finally proved himself.