Nope, KG won't come off the books as far as I know.
This. You don't get out of a contract just because the player retires.
If a player formally retires with the league and decides to forego his remaining salary, his salary is removed from the books, I believe.
From what I see, illness or injury is required. But I see some language that insinuates payment towards the player at the discretion of the team.
So if we continue paying KG, that will count towards the salary cap. The faq is not very clear on the issue.
Yeah, as I understand it, only the amount actually paid to a player counts.
So, if a guy formally retired before July 1, his entire salary would come off the books. If he retires after July 1, I think it depends upon the schedule upon which that player is paid (as some contracts accelerate payments to earlier in the season, I believe). Any money actually paid to a player counts against the cap.
Here's how Larry Coon phrases it:
There's nothing binding about a player announcing his retirement. The player can still sign a new contract and continue playing (if he's not under contract), or return to his team (if he is still under contract) and resume his career.
The only exception to this is when a player is still under contract, wants to quit, and his team doesn't want to let him out of his contract. Under these circumstances the player can file for retirement with the league. The player is placed on the league's Voluntarily Retired list (see question number 77), forgoes his remaining salary, and cannot return to the league for one year. The latter requirement prevents players from using retirement as an underhanded way to change teams, and can be overridden with unanimous approval from all 30 teams. ...
Any money paid to a player is included in team salary, even if the player is no longer playing or has retired.
So, if no money is paid, nothing is included in team salary.