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Now that the NBA Lockout has finally ended we should turn our attention to the on court product. The Atlanta Hawks have some work to do with roughly $65 million committed to just seven players for the upcoming season. The salary cap figure for the 2011-12 season is expected to be the same as last year at $58 million with the luxury tax threshold at right around $70 million. Assuming there aren't any surprises in the way that the league prorates contracts for this season, the Hawks will have roughly $5 million dollars to use to add six players just to get to the league minimum of 13 without going into luxury tax territory which we will talk about in a moment.
Here is a look at the Hawks players under guaranteed contracts for this season:
- Joe Johnson - $18,038,573
- Josh Smith - $12,500,000
- Al Horford - $12,000,000
- Kirk Hinrich - $8,100,000
- Marvin Williams - $8,050,000
- Zaza Pachulia - $4,750,000
- Jeff Teague - $1, 579,920
Atlanta also has two players that are signed to non-guaranteed deals. Picking up the options on those would bring the roster total to nine and the salary figure to right around $66.5 million.
- Magnum Rolle - $788,872
- Pape Sy - $788,872
- Keith Benson
- Jason Collins - Free Agent
- Damien Wilkins - Free Agent
Luxury Tax
Luxury tax rates: The same dollar-for-dollar as in the previous CBA for the first two years. Starting in Year 3, the rates increase to $1.50 for the first $5 million over; $1.75 for $5-$10 million over; $2.50 for $10-$15 million over; $3.25 for $15-$25 million over; and an additional 50 cents for each additional $5 million (same as previous proposal).
Amnesty
Many reports indicate that the much discussed Amnesty clause will be a part of the new CBA and will be able to be used at anytime throughout the deal. That would give the Hawks 6-10 seasons to use it depending on whether or not either side opts out of the CBE early. The Hawks could very well decide to amnesty a player like Marvin Williamsto give them some relief in their above salary cap situation but given their uncertain financial situation they may choose to hold onto the amnesty for now. Remember that the amnesty clause eliminates a contract from the salary cap figure but the player is still paid the full amount of the contract. I haven't seen anything that suggests that the Hawks are in a position to pay a player to go play for another team.
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