Oklahoma City Thunder: Explaining the amnesty clause

For the Sunday Oklahoman, I wrote about the payroll cap dilemma facing the Thunder as it pertains to Serge Ibaka and James Harden. You can read it here.

I referenced the NBA’s new amnesty clause — a new loophole that allows each franchise a one-time get-out-of-jail-free card on a contract. The franchise can cut a player, and though the player still gets his money, the money does not count against the cap for that franchise.

I brought up the amnesty clause because some think the Thunder might have to use it on Kendrick Perkins near the end of his four-year, $34.8-million contract, which has three years remaining.

The amnesty clause also came up in radio conversation the other day with me, Jim Traber and Al Eschbach. We were talking about specific needs of the Thunder and agreed that a big wing — someone to help guard LeBron James if there’s another Thunder-Heat Finals — was atop the wish list. So the name of Shawn Marion popped up and the possibility that Dallas might amnesty Marion. I actually think the Mavericks would drop Brendan Haywood before they’d drop Marion, but still, the amnesty clause is going to crop up across the NBA, and we ought to know how it works.