The Los Angeles Lakers might be in store for a tumultuous offseason. Management may find itself using the Amnesty Clause to avoid the NBA's luxury tax if Dwight Howard re-signs, or, if Howard leaves, to prepare cap space for 2014's crop of free agents - which could include LeBron James.
The Lakers are already tens of millions of dollars over the salary cap for 2013-14, according to SB Nation. If Howard chooses to re-sign with the Lakers this summer, the team would face a bigger luxury tax, which only gets worse when the "repeater" tax kicks in after the 2014-15 season. The tax, which was partly created to keep teams from collecting big-name stars (See: Miami Heat), makes it extremely costly and nearly impossible to retain big contracts on your roster.
Whether it's to keep Howard on the roster or to create room for next season's batch of free agents, Lakers management might have to make cuts to help bring them beneath the yet-to-be determined luxury tax threshold - if they don't want to pay it for the third straight year.
Along with the tax, the 2011 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) created the Amnesty Clause, which allows a team to waive a player without the contract counting against them. It's essentially a one-time way to help bring a team under the salary cap and luxury tax lines.
"It's a tool that we're aware of. We have not decided if we will use it. It's just a tool we know is available," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak told the team website last week. "We feel our players have value, but there is always a financial component to this business and the new collective bargaining agreement made some significant changes that we need to be aware of."
The question, then, becomes which contract Kupchak would like to dump. Kobe Bryant, recovering from an Achilles injury, has one year left on his deal and makes $30.5 million next season. Pau Gasol, always the subject of trade, also has one year remaining and earns $19.3 million next season. Steve Blake and Metta World Peace both have a year left as well, and they're set to make $4 million and $7.7 million, respectively.
If Kupchak was to use the clause this coming season, Bryant's contract makes the most sense to nix. It seems unfathomable, however, that the Lakers would use it on the face of their franchise and create a PR nightmare.
Gasol is the next logical choice - dumping his contract could save Los Angeles more than $60 million in luxury tax obligations. Still, the Lakers might try to trade him next season to get something in return.
SB Nation explains why World Peace and Blake are unlikely to be waived:
"Kupchak likely can only use the mini-mid-level exception to add a free agent because the Lakers are in luxury tax range. That means it would be hard to replace World Peace and Blake in the event of an amnesty, and the lack of depth at those positions for the Lakers makes the decision especially difficult."
The Lakers could go another season without using the Amnesty Clause and pay the luxury tax for the third straight year. The problem becomes the 2014-15 season, when the "repeater" tax goes into effect. Los Angeles would face monstrous repeater taxes if they are over the luxury tax threshold for a fourth time.
Until the Lakers know Howard's decision, they're stuck in limbo. He becomes a free agent July 1.
