http://www.blazersedge.com/2008/7/4/564922/darius-works-out-for-the-c
=/ What do those commenters mean on the Blazers blog?
Miles' was owed about 9-10M for the next few years from Portland, but doctors concluded he had an injury bad enough to be labeled as "career ending" so they were able to void his contract, I believe... However, if someone signs Miles' and he plays ten games Portland is then obligated to pay the rest of his salary from his last contract.
No, they didn't void his contract. It is being paid out via an insurance company. Miles still gets the money. But if his injury is not, in fact, "career ending" the insurance company no logner has to pay, but the Blazers do. Hence he goes back on their cap.
If Miles is able to perform, my guess is that the insurance company will allege fraud and try to recoup whatever it has paid out on the policy. I suppose the Blazers could try to find another doctor also willing to say that the injury is "career ending," but that's tough to do if he's out there running and jumping.
How can anybody say what the obligations of the team vs. insurance company, without having read the insurance contract? There's absolutely no way for you to know what the independent obligations of either the insurance company or the team are, without having read that contract.
Also, if an insurance company's doctor determined Miles' injury was career-ending, and the Trailblazers did not mislead the insurance company in any way, there is absolute no chance that an insurance company would be successful in a lawsuit for fraud against Portland. Zero chance. They may or may not have rights to go after Miles (again, only if he mislead them), but a fraud lawsuit against him would be extraordinarily difficult to prove, as well. I'm sure the insurance company covered itself for contingencies, but there's no fraud here.
Also, whether or not an independent insurance company makes a determination of Miles' ability to play has nothing to do with the salary cap. Instead, that situation is covered by the CBA.
Here's the rule on it:
There is one exception whereby a player can continue to receive his salary, but the salary is not included in the team's team salary. This is when a player is forced to retire for medical reasons and a league-appointed physician confirms that he is medically unfit to continue playing. There is a waiting period of one year following the injury or illness before a team can apply for this salary cap relief. If the waiting period expires mid-season (on any date prior to the last day of the regular season), then the player's entire salary for that season is removed from the team's team salary. For example, in March 2003 the Knicks were allowed to remove Luc Longley's entire 2002-03 salary from their books (and since the luxury tax is based on the team salary as of the last day of the regular season, the Knicks avoided paying any tax on Longley's salary). This provision can also be used when a player dies while under contract.
Teams are not allowed to trade for disabled players and then apply for this salary cap relief. Only the team for which the player was playing when he was disabled may request this relief.
If a player retires, even for medical reasons, his team does not receive a salary cap exception to acquire a replacement player.
Reading this, I would assume several things need to happen:
1) The player needs to retire with an injury;
2) A league physician needs to determine the injury is career-ending;
3) A year needs to expire.
After all of that, the team can apply for cap relief. As far as we know, none of that has happened, and Miles is still on Portland's cap.
There doesn't appear to be a mechanism for putting a player's salary back on a team's cap once it's off.
Topic: C’s work on Posey, work out others (some interesting names) (Read 15403 times)