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This might be just what the Pacers needed to get Al Harrington.
Deal helps Pacers gain flexibility
In return for Stojakovic, they get to use exception as part of a trade
By Mark Montieth
[email protected]
July 14, 2006
A traded player salary cap exception isn't the sort of thing that fans celebrate, but the one the Indiana Pacers received this week has their executives feeling optimistic.
The Pacers received an exception worth $7.5 million from New Orleans in exchange for Peja Stojakovic on Wednesday, greatly expanding their opportunities to make a trade for a significant player in the next year.
"It's a great thing to have," Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said Thursday. "Everybody in the league knows we have it now and knows what it could mean."
The exception -- one of the largest in league history -- can only be used in trades, rather than to sign a free agent. It could give the Pacers several opportunities to trade a draft pick or cash for a player earning up to $7.5 million, or become a facilitator for a mul eam trade.
The Pacers are over the salary cap, but the trade exception in essence puts them $7.5 million below the cap while preserving their other cap exceptions. The difference is that the Pacers must trade something for a player making $7.5 million or less rather than signing him outright.
The exception, equal to the value of Stojakovic's contract last season, was a late adjustment to the free agent deal Stojakovic agreed to take from the Hornets on July 1.
Walsh credited senior vice president David Morway for arranging the deal.
Rather than losing Stojakovic outright, the Pacers received the exception and the draft rights to 7-1 British center Andrew Betts, a second-round draft pick of the Hornets in 1998.
Betts has played in Europe since he graduated from Long Beach State. He was playing on New Orleans' summer league team in Las Vegas, averaging 4.7 points over three games. He is not expected to join the Pacers but was put into the deal because league rules require the Pacers to receive compensation beyond the exception.
The Hornets agreed to the arrangement because the Pacers added an undisclosed amount of money to the trade.
Hypothetically, the Pacers could use the trade exception to land a free agent such as targeted forward Al Harrington by trading a future draft pick and/or cash along with the exception. The acquired player, however, would have to hold a contract that pays him no more than $7.5 million next season.
The Pacers recently used a trade exception acquired in the trade that sent James Jones to Phoenix last summer to claim Orien Greene on waivers from Boston.
The exception can be used anytime in the next year, meaning it could also come into play after the start of the trading period in July 2008.
The Pacers are not obligated to use it, and, like most teams, have let some expire in the past. This one, however, is likely to be used at some point.
"Even if we don't use it this summer, it's a great thing to have during the year," Walsh said.
The Pacers also have the mid-level exception, which can be used to sign a free agent for up to $5 million in salary next season, and the so-called "million dollar" exception, which is worth $1.8 million.
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...plate=printart
This might be just what the Pacers needed to get Al Harrington.
Only if you mean they'll use it in one of those mul eam deals that have been rumored. Atlanta obviously has little use for a trade exception.
I'm not so sure. I think the Hawks are still trying to save money with the ownership troubles.
If the Pacers throw in a player like Fred Jones with the exception, I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that the Hawks would jump at it.
From what i understand a trade exception can't be combined with a player.
Atlanta's under the cap, right? So they could just trade Jones straight up for Harrington if they wanted to. Or Jones plus whatever for Harrington. The trade exception doesn't add anything to the equation.
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