A ? about a SALARY CONTRACT in the NBA- plz answer

[cyman3]

Im going to use Shareef Abdur-Rahim as my example.

Suppose he was a free agent and signed as a hawk.

Hes contract looks like:

$40,500,000 Million over 3 years

02/03 = $12,375,000

03/04 = $13,500,000

04/05 = $14,625,000 (these are his real salary number btw)

my question is... does it always have to increase?

why cant a team sign a player with a contract (same contract) decreasing each year (they still get the same contract)? this could help salary cap issues...

for ex:

02/03 = $14,625,000

03/04 = $13,500,000

04/05 = $12,375,000

are GM's not allowed to do that? does it always have to increase?

[Traceman]

I think a team COULD sign a player where the salary decreased from year to year or where the money was the same each year with no raises but the problem for the better players is that the FIRST YEAR salary is limited to max. For example, max contracts signed this upcoming year will start around $10 million. $10 million is the most that the contract can start with but the player can get raises up to 12.5% per year. A player COULD sign a contract that paid them $10 million the first year and then decreased (or stayed the same) for 7 years but why would they do that? Even if the salary stayed flat (let alone decreased), the total value of the contract for the player would be decreased by $20+ million over the life of the contract. Rules of the collective bargaining agreement prevent that first year salary from exceeding the max so that is why you don't see contracts that decrease over time.

I wonder if your strategy could be applied to guys who have become FA's after they have just come off a big contract though. For instance, when KG becomes a FA, he will be making in excess of $28 million/season. Would it be possible for KG to sign a contract starting at say $20 million and then for that contract to remain flat with no raises? I think so.

[cyman3]

are u saying that its possible if the player and his agent agrees to it? If thats so, then lets suppose that

PLAYERX and the TEAM GM agreed on a 3 year $30 Million contract. The year he signed the contract, the team was way UNDER THE CAP. Future has it that in a year or so, the contract of the other players will put this team over the CAP... so why wouldnt the player agree to help the team (1st year have mad $$$, second year/third year = little $$$) if he still gets his $30 million (after all is said and done)?

btw- Derek Fisher has a constant rate... stays the same. I think he has like 3 years at $3 million a year or so type contract. Its a fixed rate.

[Traceman]

for the deal to be possible, the player would have to already be making more than the max to be eligible for a first year salary greater than $10 million.