Will Brandon Formerly Retire???

[Diesel]

This is for KB and it's funny. If Brandon doesn't formerly retire, we're left holding the bag... LIKE TORONTO and Dream.

His choice is to retire and take a 20% pay Cut or Stay Active on our roster and get all of his money....

http://espn.go.com/nba/columns/stein_marc/1459091.html

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The Raptors won't say goodbye to Hakeem Olajuwon's contract until the team settles his finances.Q: Hakeem Olajuwon has, I believe, two years left on his contract. He is retiring. Now why are the Raptors obligated to pay him for the remaining two years (it's quite a bit of money, around $12 milllion, right?) if he is quitting? I mean, if you sign a contract, isn't part of the deal that you actually play? If you quit, how much BS is it that a team still has to pay you? Am I missing something here?

Robbie Gower

A: You're absolutely right, Robbie. Which explains why Hakeem hasn't officially retired. If you formally retire -- like the late Bison Dele did -- you forfeit the balance of your contract. Hakeem hasn't. A player isn't officially retired until he sends a retirement letter to the league office and very few players in recent years (Chris Mullin, Ron Harper and Clyde Drexler are just a few examples) have taken that step.

Insurance will cover 80 percent of Dream's remaining salary if a team of independent doctors determines that his back trouble is indeed career-ending. That's how the Raptors will be spared from paying most of the $12 million, although the numbers won't immediately drop off the salary cap.

You'll note that the Rockets retired Dream's No. 34 on Saturday night, but that Dream's name is still right there on the Raptors' roster. He's on the injured list. By the letter of the law, he's still regarded as an active player and I'm guessing he'll stay that way until the finances are settled because Dream doesn't plan to give away one cent. Expect a similar scenario if Terrell Brandon has to "retire" in Minnesota -- it won't happen until the doctors rule that insurance has to pay off 80 percent of Brandon's contract.

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[mrhonline]

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#51

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51. How do retired players count against the cap?

Any money paid to a player is included in team salary, even if the player has retired. For example, James Worthy retired in 1994, two years before his contract ended. He continued to receive his salary for the 94-95 and 95-96 seasons, so his salary was included in the Lakers' team salary in those seasons. It is at the team's discretion (or as the result of an agreement between the team and player) whether to continue to pay the player after he has retired.

There is one exception whereby a player can continue to receive his salary, but the salary is not included in the team's team salary. This is when a player is forced to retire for medical reasons and a league-appointed physician confirms that he is medically unfit to continue playing. There is a waiting period of two years (if the injury or illness occurred between January 1 and July 1) or until the second July 1 following the injury or illness (if it occurred between July 1 and January 1) before a team can apply for this salary cap relief. If the waiting period expires mid-season (on any date prior to the last day of the regular season), then his entire salary for that season is removed from the team's team salary. For example, Luc Longley suffered a career-ending injury in March 2001. In March 2003, the Knicks were allowed to remove his entire 02-03 salary from their books (and since the luxury tax is based on the team salary as of the last day of the regular season, the Knicks avoid paying any tax on Longley's salary). There is also some luxury tax relief associated with disabled players -- see question number 15 .

If a player retires, even for medical reasons, his team does not receive a salary cap exception to acquire a replacement player.

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[DJ_Money]

Read that second paragraph, D.

Brandon played his last game in February 2002. Come February 2004, he's done. He won't be on our roster come the end of the season, so he won't count anything against the cap.

[Admin]

Thats if he does decide not to play anymore and thats a tough thing for professional athlete to give up on......just look at Grant Hill. I think that its not also entirely up to him, the doctors must approve to have insurance pay 80% of his salary before he can officially get a medical retirement as well. I just hope that he realizes that he is done and the doctors do the same.......because if we have to soak him up on our roster for 2 seasons I will be pissed. However, I have faith that Knight made [censored] sure Brandon is completely done before he agreed to make this deal.

[Diesel]

Marc Steins says:

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A player isn't officially retired until he sends a retirement letter to the league office and very few players in recent years (Chris Mullin, Ron Harper and Clyde Drexler are just a few examples) have taken that step.

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If Brandon doesn't send the letter of retirement, then he's not going to retire. That means.... We have a broken down PG on the roster.

[KB21]

Too many teams were interested in getting that contract. There has to be something definite that says Brandon will indeed officially retire. If there was any doubt, I don't think up to 10 teams would have been trying to get that contract.