2010 Salary Cap Question Marks

There are many 2010 question marks that have not clearly been addressed. Below I am detailing those questions and tried to get to the bottom of them by reading u on the rules at http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q50.

1) How does James Jones's contract affect the 2010 cap space?

We all know that James Jones has a partial guarantee for 2010. His limited production makes him look like a strong candidate to get released if he is not included in an off-season trade (it is possible that a team would want to acquire him in order to release him and his partial guarantee).

If a player with a guaranteed contract is released, any amount above the minimum that the player is paid by his next team gets divided by two and discounted from what the original team owes that player. Unless the Heat specifically waived this right in the contract, Miami should be able to set off (not pay) most of Jones's guarantee if he got around $4 million a season from his new team, which is a distinct possibility considering the shortage of pure shooters in this league, creating even more cap space. Impossible to know, without actually looking at that contract.

2) Is Chris Bosh most likely to leave the Raptors because of Canada's tax laws?

While an offer from a team that has no income tax, such as Florida, will be more lucrative than one that does have one, the impact on Chris Bosh's contract may be overstated. Every team is allowed to give a 20% bonus on a contract and the bonus is only taxed at 15% for American residents in Canada, which helps neutralize the tax advantage between the USA and Canada... according to question 65 from http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q50

3) Is the Heat able to go over the salary cap to re-sign its free agents?

"Bird Rights" are what allow the home team to sign a player to a big contract even if re-signing him means going over the cap. Miami cannot sign an outside free agent for anything beyond the mid-level exception without renouncing Bird Rights altogether. If you use cap space, you lose your bird rights.

So, if Miami fails to attract a free agent that is worth more than mid-level money, it may want to bring back some rotation players (Jermaine, Udonis and Wright being the most expensive pieces) and use the two first round draft picks, bi-annual and mid-level exceptions to go above the cap ($11 million value).

Simply plugging in two mid-first round talents and two or three mid-level or below talents won't get the job done, so it makes sense that Miami might have already began trade talks with Phoenix and Utah about sign and trade scenarios.