I've noticed a number of new people on the board. I would assume they know something about basketball, but a couple of posts suggested they don't know all of our shorthand. I thought at least a few items might save some confusion.
LT - Luxury Tax: The luxury tax applies to teams that go over a certain line. The amount over that line is "taxed" in that an equal amount is transferred into a fund which is divided amoung the teams under the line.
CAP - Salary Cap: Teams that are below that line can sign free agents for amounts up to the difference between the actual salaries in place (including cap locks) and the salary cap. Teams are listed as "above the cap" or "below the cap" based their starting point.
MLE - Mid Level Exemption: Teams that are above the cap are allowed to sign free agents up to a certain amount. Recently this was just over $5 million. The actual MLE amount is not announced until right before free anents are permitted to sign. Teams that are below the cap have the option of either usling the difference between their salaries and the cap or they can choose to use their MLE. They cannot do both.
LLE - Lower Level Examption: This is an exemption that can be used only once every two years. It used to be called the "Million Dollar Exmeption" but is now about $1.8 million. The LLE cannot be used unless the team has chosen the MLE status, but cannot be combined with the MLE.
CBA - Collective Bargaining Agreement: This is the rules that result from the agreement between the player's union and the NBA. It defines all the rules about what can and cannot be done in terms of the length of contracts, structure of contracts, free agency, exemptions, etc.
125 Rule - Salary Matching Rule Stating Must Be Within 25%. When a grade between two teams above the cap are made, the salaries in the curent year are supposed to be roughly equal. To enforce this, the higher salary must be be no more than 125% of the smaller salarie. So a trade of someone making $5 million could be made for someone making $6.25 million.
TE - Trade Exemption: When a team trades with a team that is below the cap or is at the higher end of a 125 rule trade; the difference between the amount given and received create a trade exemption. The TE can then be used in separate trade to offset the need for a 125 match. There are innumerable rules related to the TE such as not combining them that make it hard to use in practice.
BYC - Base Year Contract: This generally applies to players who get a major new contract following their rookie contract. During the first year of the new contract, if this player is traded the team trading player for 12k purposes has to absorb the full contract amount of the incoming player, but only gets to deduct 1/2 of the contract amount of the player being traded. This generally means that the deal requires involvement of a team that is under the cap or where the overall amount of the deal is so large that the deal 125 is greater than the BYC impact. If that sounds complicated, it is.
It is hard to figure out what people are even talking about without understanding the short hand. Of course this doesn't mean they know what they are talking out.
LT - Luxury Tax: The luxury tax applies to teams that go over a certain line. The amount over that line is "taxed" in that an equal amount is transferred into a fund which is divided amoung the teams under the line.
CAP - Salary Cap: Teams that are below that line can sign free agents for amounts up to the difference between the actual salaries in place (including cap locks) and the salary cap. Teams are listed as "above the cap" or "below the cap" based their starting point.
MLE - Mid Level Exemption: Teams that are above the cap are allowed to sign free agents up to a certain amount. Recently this was just over $5 million. The actual MLE amount is not announced until right before free anents are permitted to sign. Teams that are below the cap have the option of either usling the difference between their salaries and the cap or they can choose to use their MLE. They cannot do both.
LLE - Lower Level Examption: This is an exemption that can be used only once every two years. It used to be called the "Million Dollar Exmeption" but is now about $1.8 million. The LLE cannot be used unless the team has chosen the MLE status, but cannot be combined with the MLE.
CBA - Collective Bargaining Agreement: This is the rules that result from the agreement between the player's union and the NBA. It defines all the rules about what can and cannot be done in terms of the length of contracts, structure of contracts, free agency, exemptions, etc.
125 Rule - Salary Matching Rule Stating Must Be Within 25%. When a grade between two teams above the cap are made, the salaries in the curent year are supposed to be roughly equal. To enforce this, the higher salary must be be no more than 125% of the smaller salarie. So a trade of someone making $5 million could be made for someone making $6.25 million.
TE - Trade Exemption: When a team trades with a team that is below the cap or is at the higher end of a 125 rule trade; the difference between the amount given and received create a trade exemption. The TE can then be used in separate trade to offset the need for a 125 match. There are innumerable rules related to the TE such as not combining them that make it hard to use in practice.
BYC - Base Year Contract: This generally applies to players who get a major new contract following their rookie contract. During the first year of the new contract, if this player is traded the team trading player for 12k purposes has to absorb the full contract amount of the incoming player, but only gets to deduct 1/2 of the contract amount of the player being traded. This generally means that the deal requires involvement of a team that is under the cap or where the overall amount of the deal is so large that the deal 125 is greater than the BYC impact. If that sounds complicated, it is.
It is hard to figure out what people are even talking about without understanding the short hand. Of course this doesn't mean they know what they are talking out.
