salary cap exception question

[otherdave]

Let's continue to dream.  We sign KD and Big Al.  We stand at 12 players and are just under the cap of $94 million.  I believe at that point we can sign our players and legally go over the cap (i.e. second round (no cap hold) pick D Jackson.  Now let's say we are over the cap and want to sign an older FA for our 14th slot.  I believe the only means to sign an outside player at this point is to use an exception - I think in this case (being barely over the cap) the room exception.  Max salary for room exception is 2,898,000 and max contract length is 2 yrs.
Let's say we sign someone for 2 years.  The room exception provision of the CBA allows us to exceed the cap in 2016 - 2017 season.  My question is in regards to year 2 of this room contract. 

Does the second year of this contract count towards the salary cap or are exception (any of them - MLE, mini, Bi, room) contracts "exceptions" for the entire lifetime of the contract?

In other words, are "exception" contracts only "exceptions" in the first year?

I have read L Coon's FAQ and I don't think this issue is addressed, but I have been wrong many times before. Although I have read this part of FAQ several times, I still find these 4 exceptions fairly confusing.

Does anyone have a simple guideline(s) or chart that explains which ones are available (and when they kick in)?  I am particularly confused by the necessary conditions for the room exception to become available.

Saltlover, dangercart, sundance, larry - you out there??

Thanks in advance.  I am fascinated by the cap, but it is not an easy thing to master.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Once you use cap space, you renounce exceptions. The exceptions are for teams that are over the cap, not for teams that have cap space and then are above the cap.

Exception to this is to sign your own players through Bird Rights. But there's no MLE to gain, etc.

I'll double check on the room exception though, haven't dealt with the particulars of that one all that much.

[saltlover]

The second year counts towards the cap in the following season.  If we sign someone to a 2-year contract under the room exception, with a max 4:5% raise, he will count 3,028,040 in year 2.

[BitterJim]

Let's continue to dream.  We sign KD and Big Al.  We stand at 12 players and are just under the cap of $94 million.  I believe at that point we can sign our players and legally go over the cap (i.e. second round (no cap hold) pick D Jackson.  Now let's say we are over the cap and want to sign an older FA for our 14th slot.  I believe the only means to sign an outside player at this point is to use an exception - I think in this case (being barely over the cap) the room exception.  Max salary for room exception is 2,898,000 and max contract length is 2 yrs.
Let's say we sign someone for 2 years.  The room exception provision of the CBA allows us to exceed the cap in 2016 - 2017 season.  My question is in regards to year 2 of this room contract. 

Does the second year of this contract count towards the salary cap or are exception (any of them - MLE, mini, Bi, room) contracts "exceptions" for the entire lifetime of the contract?

In other words, are "exception" contracts only "exceptions" in the first year?

I have read L Coon's FAQ and I don't think this issue is addressed, but I have been wrong many times before. Although I have read this part of FAQ several times, I still find these 4 exceptions fairly confusing.

Does anyone have a simple guideline(s) or chart that explains which ones are available (and when they kick in)?  I am particularly confused by the necessary conditions for the room exception to become available.

Saltlover, dangercart, sundance, larry - you out there??

Thanks in advance.  I am fascinated by the cap, but it is not an easy that to master.

Yes.  The exceptions are only exceptions in the sense that they let you go over the cap by using them - they aren't exempt from the cap rules.  The best way to think of this is by looking at the Bird and minimum salary exceptions - they allow you to go over the cap when they're signed, but still count for their full value in subsequent years

I don't know if there's a chart for the different exceptions, but here's some values from the CBA FAQs:
Non-taxpayer MLE (must be under apron AFTER signing): $5.628 million
Taxpayer MLE: $3.477 million
Room Exception: $2.898 million
Bi-Annual Exception: $2.203 million

The only one we qualify for is the room exception, since we'll be significantly below the cap this summer

Edit: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q25

[BudweiserCeltic]

Once you use cap space, you renounce exceptions. The exceptions are for teams that are over the cap, not for teams that have cap space and then are above the cap.

Exception to this is to sign your own players through Bird Rights. But there's no MLE to gain, etc.

I'll double check on the room exception though, haven't dealt with the particulars of that one all that much.

Here's the FAQ for what you're asking:
http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q26

A team's exceptions may be lost entirely, or the team may never receive them to begin with. This happens when their team salary is so low that when the exceptions are added to the team salary, the sum is still below the salary cap. If this happens when the exceptions arise, then the team doesn't get their exceptions at all. If the team salary ever drops below this level during the year, then any unused portions of their exceptions are lost (and do not return if the team salary increases).

For example, assume there is a $58 million salary cap, and during the offseason a team has $50 million committed to salaries, along with a Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level exception for $5 million, a trade exception for $2.5 million, and an unrenounced free agent whose free agent amount is $2 million. Their salaries and exceptions total $59.5 million, or $1.5 million over the cap. What if their free agent signs with another team? The $2 million free agent amount comes off their cap, so their team salary (including their remaining exceptions) drops to $57.5 million. This total is below the cap so the team loses its Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level and trade exceptions.

There is logic behind this. The whole idea behind an "exception" is that it is an exception to the rule which says a team cannot go over the salary cap. In other words, an exception is a mechanism which allows a team to function above the cap. If a team isn't over the cap, then the concept of an exception is moot. Therefore, if a team's team salary ever drops this far, its exceptions go away. A rule of thumb is that a team may have either exceptions or cap room, but it can't have both at the same time. However, a team in this situation does qualify to use the Room Mid-Level exception (see question number 25).

So yes, they lose the exceptions but they apparently can still use the Room Mid-Level one.

[otherdave]

Once you use cap space, you renounce exceptions.

Really - by virtue of using cap space you must renounce ALL exceptions?  I thought that you could pick and choose which ones to renounce.  For example, C's have not renounced rights to L Datome yet because they have not needed the cap room yet.



Oops, L Datome is a cap hold issue, not an exception issue.

[kozlodoev]

I believe at that point we can sign our players and legally go over the cap (i.e. second round (no cap hold)

That's not how it works. You either have a cap hold for our players, or we can't sign them. Also, if you sigh players with cap space, you will renounce cap exemptions.

[otherdave]

I believe at that point we can sign our players and legally go over the cap (i.e. second round (no cap hold)

That's not how it works. You either have a cap hold for our players, or we can't sign them. Also, if you sigh players with cap space, you will renounce cap exemptions.

I thought 2nd rd picks did not require a cap hold.

[TheSundanceKid]

I believe at that point we can sign our players and legally go over the cap (i.e. second round (no cap hold)

That's not how it works. You either have a cap hold for our players, or we can't sign them. Also, if you sigh players with cap space, you will renounce cap exemptions.

With 2nd round draft picks it's different. They don't have a cap hold before you sign them. 1st round picks will do. I think it's to do with the fact that a 1st round pick has a guaranteed contract whereas a 2nd round pick doesn't

[BitterJim]

I believe at that point we can sign our players and legally go over the cap (i.e. second round (no cap hold)

That's not how it works. You either have a cap hold for our players, or we can't sign them. Also, if you sigh players with cap space, you will renounce cap exemptions.

You can still sign them to minimum-salary contracts without a cap hold or cap space