NBA Amnesty Clause Could Lead To Wild Shake-Ups With Bid System

This is the Brandon Roy that we think now exists: a former star who is still young but who is no longer capable of playing at the level he thinks he can play at. It’s not that Roy was delusional last season -- he talked openly about changing his game, his offensive plan of attack to account for a lack of explosiveness. But that was only part of the problem. Roy had no interest or ability to decrease his offensive load. He was stuck on All-Star level in terms of usage, but far, far below that in conversion.

Given those repeat knee problems, there’s no doubt that Roy’s contract is troubling. Any team would be considering amnesty to clear the cap hit over the next four seasons. He’s still owed $64 million; while the team would be forking out that much whether it uses the amnesty clause on Roy or not, the cap space is just mammoth. That’s basically an entire max player you can fit under the cap or luxury tax line, basically (even if Portland’s commitments wouldn’t allow them to get under the cap for a couple years).

Canzano reports that the decision has already been made by Blazers owner Paul Allen.

In response to the news, fans from SB Nation’s Portland blog Blazer’s Edge peppered Allen with tweets in opposition to waiving Roy on Monday. The volume was so heavy that Allen eventually broke the NBA’s gag order to thank Blazers fans for their patience. That drew more comments supporting Roy.

The NBA amnesty clause, a result of the lockout deal reached Saturday, has a lot of fans excited. Under the rule, teams can cut one player whose salary cap hit will then be taken off the sheet. The player will still be paid by the team, but will become a free agent. (There is also a mechanism in place where other teams with cap space can claim players off of waivers before they reach free agency, assuming a portion of the old salary.)

But Howard Beck of the New York Times warns that the amnesty clause may not actually be used much this season.