Incentive for player to accept draft and stash

[libermaniac]

Can someone please explain to me the incentive for a player to accept a draft and stash?  The C's haven't taken too many such players, so I'm not clear on why a player, like Yabusele or Zizic would defer playing in the NBA when 1st round picks get guaranteed contracts.  I'd appreciate it if someone in the know can explain their incentive.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

getting a chance to play instead of doing what Zeller had to do most of last season.

[libermaniac]

Bumping this.  Really interested in an answer.  For instance, in the interview, Zizic said he thinks he's ready for the NBA.  If the Celtics think he's not, what factors are in play?

Is it that the player can say he's ready, declare for the NBA, and can't sign with another team, which would then force the Celtics hand into signing for trading him within a year?  The risk to the player is a year of lost income/p---ing off his future employee?

But, what about the guaranteed money for a first round player? Would the player get an insurance contract against injury, or would the team pay for it, if he's forced to stay overseas? 

[BitterJim]

From Larry Coon's (saltlover's?) FAQs:

51. What if the team and their drafted player can't agree to a contract? What options does the player have? How long does the team keep his draft rights?

The player's options are limited. What happens depends on a number of factors:

If the player is already under contract to, or signs a contract with a non-NBA team, the team retains the player's draft rights for one year after the player's obligation to the non-NBA team ends. Essentially, the clock stops as long as the player plays pro ball outside the NBA. Players are not included in team salary during the regular season while the player is under contract with a non-NBA team.
If the player goes on to play college ball after he was drafted, then the team retains the player's draft rights until one year following the draft the player would have entered had he not declared early. For example, if a team drafts a college sophomore in 2012 and he returns to college and plays intercollegiate basketball, then they retain his draft rights until the 2015 draft. Note that the NCAA rules state that players lose their NCAA eligibility if they are drafted, so the player currently cannot return or go on to play college ball. This rule exists in the CBA in the event the NCAA rules ever change.
If the player was eligible to play in college before he was drafted but does not go on to play college basketball, then the team retains the player's draft rights until the draft the player would have entered had he not declared early. For example, if a team drafts a college sophomore in 2012 and he does not return to college and play intercollegiate basketball, they retain his draft rights until the 2014 draft.
For all other players, the team retains the player's draft rights until the date of the next draft.
In any of the above cases, if the team does not sign the player in the allotted time, the player can enter the next draft. If the team that selects the player in the next draft doesn't sign him either, he becomes a rookie free agent on the date of the following draft.

When a team signs a first round draft pick within three years after he is drafted, they use the salary scale for the year in which he signs (usually the player signs in the same year he is drafted). After three years they have the option of either using the salary scale or signing him as if he was a free agent -- using their cap room or any available exception, with the standard raises. They can only do the latter if the player did not play intercollegiately in the interim. Such a contract must be for at least three seasons, and the salary in the first season must be greater than 120% of the applicable rookie scale amount.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q49

[knuckleballer]

I don't know all the details, but the European players are under contracts with their European teams.  These contracts normally have buyouts to get out of the contracts.  NBA teams can pay part of that, but the player may have to pay some of it as well.  So there's a financial advantage of staying in Europe which is somewhat dictated by the NBA paying up for the buyout.

[saltlover]

From Larry Coon's (saltlover's?) FAQs:

51. What if the team and their drafted player can't agree to a contract? What options does the player have? How long does the team keep his draft rights?

The player's options are limited. What happens depends on a number of factors:

If the player is already under contract to, or signs a contract with a non-NBA team, the team retains the player's draft rights for one year after the player's obligation to the non-NBA team ends. Essentially, the clock stops as long as the player plays pro ball outside the NBA. Players are not included in team salary during the regular season while the player is under contract with a non-NBA team.
If the player goes on to play college ball after he was drafted, then the team retains the player's draft rights until one year following the draft the player would have entered had he not declared early. For example, if a team drafts a college sophomore in 2012 and he returns to college and plays intercollegiate basketball, then they retain his draft rights until the 2015 draft. Note that the NCAA rules state that players lose their NCAA eligibility if they are drafted, so the player currently cannot return or go on to play college ball. This rule exists in the CBA in the event the NCAA rules ever change.
If the player was eligible to play in college before he was drafted but does not go on to play college basketball, then the team retains the player's draft rights until the draft the player would have entered had he not declared early. For example, if a team drafts a college sophomore in 2012 and he does not return to college and play intercollegiate basketball, they retain his draft rights until the 2014 draft.
For all other players, the team retains the player's draft rights until the date of the next draft.
In any of the above cases, if the team does not sign the player in the allotted time, the player can enter the next draft. If the team that selects the player in the next draft doesn't sign him either, he becomes a rookie free agent on the date of the following draft.

When a team signs a first round draft pick within three years after he is drafted, they use the salary scale for the year in which he signs (usually the player signs in the same year he is drafted). After three years they have the option of either using the salary scale or signing him as if he was a free agent -- using their cap room or any available exception, with the standard raises. They can only do the latter if the player did not play intercollegiately in the interim. Such a contract must be for at least three seasons, and the salary in the first season must be greater than 120% of the applicable rookie scale amount.

http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q49

Lol I'm not Larry Coon.  I wish!

[saltlover]

Bumping this.  Really interested in an answer.  For instance, in the interview, Zizic said he thinks he's ready for the NBA.  If the Celtics think he's not, what factors are in play?

Is it that the player can say he's ready, declare for the NBA, and can't sign with another team, which would then force the Celtics hand into signing for trading him within a year?  The risk to the player is a year of lost income/p---ing off his future employee?

But, what about the guaranteed money for a first round player? Would the player get an insurance contract against injury, or would the team pay for it, if he's forced to stay overseas?

A few things:

1) If a player is under contract to a foreign club, he cannot sign with an NBA team (or any other foreign club) until he has been removed from that contract, per FIBA rules.  European teams often sign prodigious teenagers to long (6-8 years) contracts, so players generally can't wait around forever until they're free agents.

2) Accordingly, players negotiate buyouts with teams. Sometimes this is negotiated when the contract is first signed, and other times it is negotiated later on.  I believe Zizic negotiated his terms more recently.

3) These buyouts can be for any amount, but NBA teams are prevented from paying more than a certain amount for a buyout (which is defined by the CBA and goes up a small amount every year).  Next season that number is $650k.  Any buyout that exceeds $650k must come from the player (or his agent) himself.  Often this means that a foreign player's contract will be less than his slot value, because a chunk has gone to his old team.

4) During the pre-draft process, teams an agents are prevented from contract negotiation.  They are not, however, prohibited from discussing where a player would be willing to play in the following season, nor are they prevented from learning what buyout, if any, a player has.  Accordingly, if the Celtics desire to keep Zizic overseas for a year, they should know in advance that he's okay with this.  Sometimes things get lost in translation, of course.  A couple of year's ago, Clint Capela and the Rokcets had a disagreement about where he should play.  He ended up winning.

5) If things break down, because Zizic and the C's disagree about where he should play, Zizic' options are limited.  He could a) continue to play out his contract overseas, b) demand a trade and have the viable threat that he'll never come over, or c) buy himself out of the contract, sign nowhere for a year, and then re-enter the draft.

6) There's a misconception about whether or not draft-and-stash players count against the team's salary cap.  They do, until the beginning of the NBA season.  So Zizic will count $1,153,000 against the C's cap this summer (his slot value).  That number will disappear in November, but by that point it's too late for the cap space to be useful.  Accordingly, you don't want too many 1st rounder drafted and stashed, since you take a cap hit without the benefit of his playing.

Anyway, the key point above is #4 -  there shouldn't be any conflict between the two sides.

[loco_91]

6) There's a misconception about whether or not draft-and-stash players count against the team's salary cap.  They do, until the beginning of the NBA season.  So Zizic will count $1,153,000 against the C's cap this summer (his slot value).  That number will disappear in November, but by that point it's too late for the cap space to be useful.  Accordingly, you don't want too many 1st rounder drafted and stashed, since you take a cap hit without the benefit of his playing.

This is interesting - I didn't realize it at all. It seems really odd that Ainge elected to draft Euros with his first rounders and NCAA'ers with his 2nd rounders, and this makes it seem doubly odd.