General Summary

  1. Diakite was acquired by Memphis in a trade that sent Zaire Williams to the Brooklyn Nets, which was a move to help Memphis clear salary to help sign Luke Kennard and stay under the Luxury Tax Threshold (more on that below).
  2. Diakite was waived by Memphis and has since cleared waivers, leaving Memphis with dead salary (discussed below) and making Diakite an Unrestricted Free Agent.

Cap Discussion

Initial Guarantee of a Portion of Salary

  1. Prior to his trade to Memphis, Diakite was involved in the Mikal Bridges trade, where he was sent from New York to Brooklyn.
  2. To push the Bridges trade through, Diakite’s non-guaranteed contract was partially guaranteed for $1,392,150. His total salary was $2,272,252, which was counted toward their team salary when it comes to the tax threshold.

Waive and Stretch

  1. Memphis is electing to “Stretch” the dead salary, which allows a team to spread the cap hit over twice the mount of remaining seasons, plus an additional season. However, to include the current year (which Diakite only has a contract for the current year) in the stretching of the dead salary, the player must clear waivers by 8/31 to allow the team to elect to stretch the salary by 8/31.
  2. Since Diakite had one season guaranteed for $1,392,150, that amount is stretched over three seasons ($464,050 per season).
  3. Memphis creates a slightly larger cushion below the tax, saving an additional $1,808,202, leaving them $2,620,002 under the tax:
    1. $170,003,019 original team salary for tax purposes
    2. Memphis saves $1,808,202 waiving Diakite ($2,272,252 – $464,050 dead salary = $1,808,202).
    3. $168,194,817 new salary ($2,619,183 under tax threshold)

Memphis Financial Outlook

  1. Memphis could look to convert a player like Cam Spencer from a Two-Way Contract to a minimum contract, which would be for $1,119,563 since he has 0 Years of Service, rather than the likely minimum salary for 2 YOS, $2,019,706, which would apply to any minimum player signed to a standard contract as a free agent.
  2. Final Note: Memphis has $1,887,500 in outstanding unlikely bonuses for the season, which do not currently count toward the tax, but will if they are triggered. Before waiving Diakite, the triggering of the bonuses would take them into the tax