KNICKS SO-CALLED 2010 PLAN COULD STAY ON POINT WITH A LITTLE “WHITE CHOCOLATE”: A JASON WILLIAMS/CBA DISCUSSION

A MSM report incorrectly stated that the Knicks “won” the rights to
negotiate with Williams when he was claimed off the waiver wire. This
is absolutely incorrect. The way that the waiver works is that after
the player is released, any team may claim him off waivers but the
player is automatically awarded to the claimant-team with the worst
record. No team with a worse record claimed Williams.

Jason Williams signed a one-year contract as a free agent with the Clippers on August 8, 2008 after
spending three years with the Miami Heat where he won a championship
ring with Shaq and DWade. On September 26th, Williams retired,
apparently unwilling to move his family from Miami to Los Angeles in
order to play for a perennial loser. Clipper coach Mike Dunleavy waxed
flippantly about William’s retirement before training camp. Dunleavy
said “He’s from West Virginia. He could be like Brett Favre. And a month from now he could want to play again.”

Jason did attempt to unretire prior to the trading deadline in
February 2008. A player can return from retirement, before the end of
the mandatory one-year waiting period, only by unanimous consent of all
NBA teams. Six teams voted against William’s early return. ESPN.com
described the rejection as follows:

“The six teams that voted against letting Williams return this
season, as revealed to all 30 teams via league memo, were Atlanta,
Chicago, Houston, Minnesota, San Antonio and the Clippers themselves,
who would have regained exclusive rights to the 33-year-old had he been
reinstated. One suggested motivation for teams blocking Williams’
return is the assumption that he would have quickly parted ways with
L.A. after reinstatement and signed with a playoff contender for this
season’s stretch run.”

When he retired, Williams reportedly forfeited his salary, the
league minimum, which was $1,262,275 in 2008-2009. In 1oo7-2008, he
earned $8,937,572 with the Miami Heat. This season Williams could be
signed for the minimum salary of $1,306,455 (Larry Coon’s CBA FAQ, query #11).
If Williams agrees to a one-year contract with the Knicks, the Knicks
should actually be entitled to additional savings, since the leaue pays
for the portion of the veteran’s salary above $825,497 (the two-year
vet minimum) in order to encourage teams to sign older vets.