Why amnesty a player

Every once in a while, Outlaw has a game where he just seems to "get it," but his raging inconsistency prevents him from being useful to an NBA rotation, and the Nets made the right decision cutting ties with what was clearly a bad signing.

Overweight and nursing a bad back, Davis declined quickly, and after the Cavs drafted Kyrie Irving, he became entirely useless toward their rebuilding effort. Cutting ties with Davis' salary gave the Cavs a lot of cap flexibility, and they should be able to go after a top free agent this summer.

The Dallas Mavericks made the obvious choice cutting ties with Brendan Haywood in Haywood was remarkably ineffective for the Mavs, and he averaged 4. Haywood's signing appeared to make sense at the time, as he was coming off a near double-double average with the Washington Wizards while blocking over two shots a game, but his decline mysteriously coincided with his big contract. Birdman encountered some off-court problems but has recently been working out with the Miami Heat.

Andris Biedrins has become very expensive dead weight in Golden State. They'd be bigger players in the free-agent market this summer if not for Biedrins' albatross contract.

The Houston Rockets may have made a mistake in amnestying Luis Scola. It was done in pursuit of free agent Dwight Howard , and that still could be the Rockets' long-term plan with Howard becoming a free agent at the end of this season.

Had he known, one figures the Rockets would have had a nice starting lineup featuring Scola at the 4 spot. He's a significant upgrade over either Patrick Patterson or Marcus Morris.

If the Rockets had kept Scola, would his The Indiana Pacers decided to cut ties with James Posey, though I had speculated they shouldn't have used the clause at all.

Well played, Indy. Gomes is a decent swingman, but he is below replacement level for a starter in the NBA. Improvement in Gomes' game was unlikely since he was 29 years of age at the time the Clips exercised the clause on his contract. More FS Atlantic News ». View all Atlantic Sites. More Central News ». More FS Central News ». View all Central Sites.

More Southeast News ». More FS Southeast News ». View all Southeast Sites. More Northwest News ». More FS Northwest News ». View all Northwest Sites. More Pacific News ». More FS Pacific News ». View all Pacific Sites. More Southwest News ». More FS Southwest News ». View all Southwest Sites. More FanSided News ». The Heat might end up actually operating over the salary cap so they can re-sign Goran Dragic and Jae Crowder with their Bird rights.

If Giannis Antetokounmpo were to leave, using it on someone like George Hill in a year or two makes sense to help expedite the rebuild. Re-signing Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez , as well as signing their lottery pick and using the mid-level exception could push them over the luxury tax next season.

Using the amnesty clause on Johnson serves as an easy fix for that, and surely they can replace him with someone just as productive for much less money. They might be the least likely team to use the amnesty clause on any of their players. The only player that makes sense is Muscala. Terrence Ross and Al-Farouq Aminu are two considerations a year or two from now if they regress and the Magic need more flexibility. Perhaps the most controversial selection, but if an amnesty clause happens the Sixers should use it on Horford.

But if they cannot, they should use it on him either next summer or the one after. Hood might not play next season after rupturing his Achilles. If he is no longer in the Blazers plans, they might as well amnesty him as a courtesy. If they want to keep Hood, their other most likely option is Hezonja. The amnesty clause could be more valuable once they extend DeAaron Fox and his salary kicks in. To avoid the tax and stay flexible, they may need to use it on Harrison Barnes or Cory Joseph in a year or two.

Whether they would use the amnesty clause or not largely depends on the Spurs direction next summer. The Jazz will probably be flirting with the luxury tax if they re-sign Jordan Clarkson and use the mid-level exception.

Using the amnesty clause on Davis could be the difference between whether the Jazz are in the tax or not next season. Wall is in the first year of his supermax deal although it feels like he has been on it forever. This would give them the flexibility to re-sign Davis Bertans without limitations while adding more talent around Bradley Beal. Evergreen , Featured , Top , Business.