Carmelo Anthony to the Clippers: A Cap & CBA Primer
“It’s happening again” is popular sentiment when referring to Carmelo Anthony. The second installment of the Melo trade drama is back, but is it really his fault this time?
By all accounts Anthony has actually tried to suppress the issue. He wants to play in New York, a stance he’s voiced consistently. He hasn’t affirmatively demanded a trade or publicly critiqued GM and president Phil Jackson’s objectively questionable moves. But under the relentless New York media lens, Jackson’s strategic trade leaks and fans at Madison Square Garden booing him, Anthony is understandably starting to lose patience.
This piece is designated to the application of salary cap rules and collective bargaining agreement components to a potential Anthony trade to the Los Angeles Clippers, but I wanted to make my position on his treatment clear first: it’s total bullshit. Anthony didn’t give himself his contract or his no trade clause. He might have pushed the Knicks to pursue veterans like Derek Rose via trade and Joakim Noah in free agency, but those choices weren’t ultimately his. It’s not his fault the Knicks should have started to rebuild around Kristaps Porzingis at draft time last year, and align their future moves with the now-21-year-olds timeline once he demonstrated franchise player potential. When stars sign max contracts and then proceed to complain about lack of flexibility to acquire players or demand trades, it rightfully incites people. But that’s not what has happened here.
The hate has gone too far on Carmelo. If you want to reference on-court play with inconsistent effort and the fact he isn’t showing the same passing prowess or willingness as he did last season, that’s entirely fair. But fans booing him at the Garden and people acting like he’s the culprit here is misplaced.
*Steps off soapbox*
Because Anthony trades are being discussed and NBA trade season is easily everyone’s favorite pastime, it is prudent to cover the elements in play here. ESPN is reporting the Clippers are interested in acquiring Anthony, which makes sense on multiple fronts. Anthony’s connection with Chris Paul, the Clippers’ void at the 3 and the Clippers’ status as a competitor present an agreeable situation for Anthony to waive his no trade clause.
There are however a myriad of CBA roadblocks facing any Anthony trade to the Clippers, which will be explored below.
No Trade Clause
Anthony famously has an actual no-trade clause (not de-facto) in his contract due to being in the NBA for at least 8 seasons and with the Knicks for 4 (1 was a partial season) when he signed his new contract in 2014. The ramifications are rather obvious: Anthony can control what his destination is in any trade with complete leverage, which also suppresses his market.
Trade Kicker
The second additional component in Anthony’s contract is a 15 percent trade kicker.
Trade kickers can be a pain in the ass, especially when non-guaranteed salary is involved and when trades occur during the season, which triggers proration. Anthony’s situation is a bit simpler as his entire contract was fully guaranteed, so the calculus is more straightforward.
In this hypothetical situation, let’s assume Anthony is traded on the day of the trade deadline (February 23rd). Including the 23rd, there would be 49 days left in the regular season at that time.
Anthony’s remaining salary this season, the first step the trade kicker analysis, would thus be his team salary amount, $24,559,380, multiplied by the 49 days remaining in the season divided by 170 total days in the league calendar. That figure is $7,078,880.
Anthony’s 2017/18 guaranteed salary counts in the full amount of $26,243,760, as does his 2018/19 $27,928,140 amount, the latter only because that year is an early termination option (ETO) and not a player option. In total, Anthony’s remaining salary over three seasons is $61,250,780.
That $61,250,780 allows us to actually determine the value of the trade kicker, which is 15% of that number, or $9,187,617.
In terms of actually applying the kicker, the $9,187,617 is allocated to each year based on the proportion of the salary that is guaranteed in each year. Since Anthony’s contract is fully guaranteed, under typical conditions the $9,187,617 would be allocated in 3 equal installments over this season and the next two. However, because Anthony’s final year is an ETO, his remaining salary is instead allocated just to this season and 2017/18.
The $9,187,617 is thus split into two equal $4,593,809 installments, boosting his team salary amount this season and next season by that amount.
In summation, Anthony’s post-trade kicker team salary this season would rise to $29,153,189, and the same rise would occur in 2017/18 to $30,837,569. Per league rules, Anthony could waive part of his trade kicker to make a trade legal via matching trade rules (or fit into cap space hypothetically), but for now let’s just assume he isn’t willing to. A cool $9,187,617 is nothing to scoff at.
Anthony is also permitted to his full trade kicker, as his enhanced $29,153,189 salary does not exceed his 10+ years of service maximum salary threshold of $30,963,450.
The Clippers have incentive to wait on a trade as well outside of parting with multiple guards with Paul banged up. The longer they wait, the less Anthony’s remaining salary is, and the easier it is to fit under the hard cap as we’ll see below.
Lastly, New York is responsible for paying Anthony’s full $9,187,617 trade kicker, as his contract was signed in the current CBA.
Trade Ramifications with the Trade Kicker
For matching purposes, the pre-trade kicker salary is treated as outgoing salary for the prior team, and the post-trade kicker salary is treated as incoming salary for the receiving team (even though the prior team actually pays for the kicker in this instance). Thus, for the Knicks Anthony’s outgoing salary for trade purposes would be $24,559,380, and for the Clippers Anthony’s incoming salary would be $29,153,189.
Clippers Hard Cap Limitations
There is another subtle rule in play here with the Clippers operating under the hard cap due to utilizing the full non-taxpayer midlevel exception re-signing Wes Johnson this offseason, therefore triggering “apron” considerations.
To receive Anthony’s albatross $29,153,189 the Clippers would typically have to trade out an outgoing salary total of $23,242,551, complying with the 125% + $100,000 of outgoing salary trade rule triggered by being a taxpayer post trade (likely for LA) and because Anthony’s contract is over a certain threshold.
However, because the Clippers can’t exceed the $117,287,000 apron this cap year, they have to send out at least $27,043,181, as they are currently operating $2,110,008 below the apron.
Blake Griffin Designated Player Limitation
This aspect of a potential trade hasn’t been outlined as much because Griffin according to reports hasn’t been part of primary trade discussions. But because Griffin signed his rookie scale extension via designated player status, he actually cannot be traded to the Knicks as long as Derek Rose, who similarly signed with designated player status and was acquired by trade by New York, is on the roster. The current CBA limits the amount of designated players allowed on a roster to 2, but only 1 can be signed and 1 can be traded for. The new CBA expands the maximum to 2 for players who are *signed* with designated status.
Stepien Rule, 7 Year Rule & Pick Swaps
Another dynamic component to this potential deal is draft pick capital, and the rules that pertain to them. This is mostly because the Clippers have a barren asset reserve.
The Clippers owe their 2017 1st round pick to Toronto (Protected 1–14 in ‘16-’19, then morphing into 2nd round picks if not conveyed in ’20 & ‘21), and their 2019 1st round pick to Boston (Protected 1–14 in ’19, ’20, then morphing into a ’22 2nd). Thus, per the Stepien rule, which stipulates you can’t trade future first round picks in back-to-back years, the earliest first rounder the clippers could convey is 2021.
The Clippers could make their 2017 pick owed to Toronto, which is top 14 protected, available to the Knicks by unprotecting it if it falls in the top 14. This has little realistic weight however due to the Clippers’ record and the almost certainty of conveyance to Toronto. The same goes for their 2019 first owed to Boston.
Prior to this season, teams could only have one “first available two years after” first round pick out at one time, which is what the Clippers’ 2019 pick owed to Boston is. As of this year, a team can now have two of such picks owed at once, enabling LA to trade a 2021 first rounder.
The other main rule at work here is the 7-year rule, which stipulates that a team can’t trade first round picks more than 7 years into the future. Meaning, the most into the future the Clippers can trade a pick right now is the 2023 draft.
Pick swaps are a way to combat the Stepien rule because technically a team still has a future draft pick of some kind in a swap situation. Pick swaps get more complicated when pick protection is involved, but such alterations can still be made.
Knicks Full 15-Man Roster
Easily the lowest barrier to a deal getting done, New York would have to clear the requisite roster spots to accommodate likely 3 returning players given Anthony’s large salary, unless they include two fillers like Sasha Vujacic and Maurice Ndour in the trade as well. The Knicks could also easily waive both, or find a third team for one or two of the Clippers’ players.
What a Legal Trade Could Look Like
Player Salaries
Jamal Crawford ($13,253,012), Austin Rivers ($11,000,000) and Wesley Johnson ($5,628,000), a total of $29,881,012, for Anthony ($29,153,189), Vujacic ($980,431), and Ndour ($543,471), which equates to $30,677,091, is trade legal. Ndour would count $980,431 against the tax and the apron for the Clippers as a free agent with less than 2 years experience who signed as a free agent, so that total for apron purposes is actually $31,114,051. The Clippers would only add $1,233,039 towards the apron, keeping them a mere $876,969 under the hard cap.
There’s a lot of different directions the trade could go, but it’s safe to say Crawford and either Rivers or J.J. Redick have to be in the trade at some capacity for matching purposes, along with Johnson.
Draft Compensation
The Clippers given the precedent of the Goran Dragic trade would likely have to deal their 2021 first rounder unprotected. LA at this juncture can only deal one first rounder, and it must convey in the 2023 draft at latest if it is protected in any way.
Pairing that unprotected 2021 first with multiple unprotected pick swaps in 2022 and 2023 seems like the best realistic recourse. New York could also seek pick swaps over the next 4 years, as the two picks the Clippers owe Toronto and Boston are protected 1–14, thus within that top 14 the Knicks could seek add-in swap rights in addition to potentially unprotecting their pick. Considering the likely success of the Clippers over that stint and the fact the picks will therefore convey outside the top 14, that option isn’t overly alluring.
The Clippers also don’t have a second rounder available to trade until 2019, with New York already potentially having rights to LA’s 2018 second. The same 7 year rule applies to second round picks, so LA’s 2019 and 2023 seconds are on the table, as is the 2020 second rounder they are owed from Cleveland. But their own second round picks from 2020 to 2022 are tied up as part of their deals owed to Boston and Toronto. Considering most of these picks look to be conveyed in the 50–57 range, none hold much value.
In sum, the Clippers could offer a picks package of their 2021 first rounder unprotected, their own second round picks in 2019 and 2023, and the Cavaliers’ second round pick in 2020. From a pick swap standpoint, their are multiple options available, but the most alluring are unprotected swap rights in 2022 and 2023.
Cash
The Clippers still have $3,270,000 of the maximum $3,500,000 available in the current cap year to pay New York, which would help cover part of Anthony’s trade kicker.
Should the Knicks Strike a Deal of This Nature
Most ardently no if the reports are true in that the Clippers most likely wont part with Griffin or Jordan. It is better to keep Anthony for the offseason when teams have clearer avenues to cap space, rendering some trades potentially easier, and allowing for more time for better opportunities to reveal themselves.
There is a difference between dealing Anthony for 50 cents on the dollar and just giving him away. His leverage situation makes returning equal value incredibly difficult, but he’s worth more to the Knicks than basically nothing in return. You have to get something back.
The Knicks had a clear window to hit the reset button around the draft last year and align their team-building with Porzingis’ window, who flashed franchise player potential as a rookie. Instead, they doubled-down on Anthony’s window by signing two past their prime players and trading for one with diminished returns. They were objectively bad moves, but you can’t just keep throwing salt on the wound by making ill-advised choices.
Wait until the offseason. Be Patient. And don’t be classic Knicks for a damn change.
The Cap and CBA information was derived from the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement. All salary and draft pick information was derived from Basketball Insiders and The Vertical
