Kanter?

They don't have to sign brewer and Beverley until they've dealt with McDaniels and Smith. Their lower cap holds apply until they do sign. I presume they'll manage to go over the apron by doing their signings in the right order.

 

Yes, they can try to massage things by doing them in a particular order, but by league rule, if they use the non-taxpayer MLE, they are not permitted to go over the apron at all, regardless of what cap exceptions they might have.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q28

 

But...

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q14

They use a slightly different calculation for determining the team salary in relation to the apron -- the point $4 million over the tax line. This applies to the Bi-Annual, Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level, and Taxpayer Mid-Level exceptions (see question number 25), and for Sign-and-Trade transactions (see question number 91). For these purposes they use the team salary as defined above, with the following modifications:5

• All unlikely bonuses are included for contracts and extensions signed under the current CBA.
• Amounts that could be included in team salary as the result of certain grievances are included.
• For rookies and players with one year of experience who were signed as free agents (not as draft picks) and whose salary is less than the two-year minimum salary, the two-year minimum salary is used in place of their actual salary.
• For the team's restricted free agents, the amount of any outstanding qualifying offer or first refusal exercise notice (both including unlikely bonuses), whichever is greater, are included.
• The amount of any required tenders for the team's draft picks is included (80% of the scale salary for first round picks; the rookie minimum salary for second round picks).
• Cap holds for free agents are excluded.
• Cap holds for first round draft picks are excluded.
• Cap holds for the team's outstanding exceptions are excluded.

 

That still doesn't change the factual basis of anything I posted. Use of the NTPMLE hard-caps them--in terms of actual salaries--at the tax line. Exceptions are irrelevant when the hard cap is involved.

 

They're nowhere near the apron using these calculations.

Terry doesn't count. The draft picks don't count. The MLE doesn't count either, nor BAE. Things you figured puts them over.

 

For hard cap/apron purposes, their cap is $60M. Even with Brewer and Beverly, they are $6M under the LT, $10m under the apron. MLE fits.

 

Unless they plan on trying to ALSO bring back Smith/Terry and actually sign on or both of their draft picks, in which case they then would only have $4M remaining under the hard cap in which to do so.

 

No, I only figured actual salaries--either those to which they're already committed ($60M), or those they plan to pay this season (13.5 Brewer/Beverley, 1.3 Dekker, 5.5 McDaniels). Those all combine to over $80M, which puts them very close to the tax line which they would not be permitted to cross if they use the NTPMLE.

 

I'd wait until after using the MLE.

The Nets managed to go WAY over the apron the year they got KG from Boston.

It seems they can offer Smith $2.4M. He's either going to take it or not. He's still getting paid by Detroit, too.

The order is something like:

1) sign brewer to go from $60m to $68m, over the cap
2) use MLE
3) sign Beverly
4) sign Terry

At this point, they're over the apron. I think they can still sign their own FAs using exceptions.

 

You are counting underlined items. Brewer counts as $0, for example. Decker is $0, too.

 

And what you are apparently missing is that if they use the MLE, they would not be allowed to go over the apron to sign Terry. That's the whole point of the hard cap section I linked to.