How the Phoenix Suns could use the Stretch Provision on Brandon Knight

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PHOENIX, AZ – SEPTEMBER 25: Brandon Knight #11 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a portrait at the Talking Stick Resort Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Now, what happens when Brandon Knight signs with another team after he has cleared waivers – which will happen.

There is a secondary aspect to the provision called a “set-off” in which part of the stretched salary that the Suns would continue to owe Knight would be wiped off of their books. In a way, it can be said that the Suns could almost “write-off” part of his stretched contract.

How that works is if Knight signs another contract with, say, Atlanta, at $7 million a year for two years beginning in 2018-19, the Suns can set-off a portion of his contract for the next two seasons.

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To do this, they would subtract $7 million of his original 2018-19 contract of $14,631,250 leaving $7,631,250), subtract the league minimum contract of $1,312,661, then divide by two for a new total of $3,159,294.50 in cap savings.

The same would be done for 2019-20. So, take his $15,643,750 salary, subtract $7 million as well as the veteran’s minimum, then divide by two. This equals about $3,665,544.50 in savings.

This would mean that what the Suns would owe him for the next five seasons would look something like this:

2018-19 – $2,895,705.50

2019-20 – $2,389,455.50

2020-21 – $6,055,000

2021-22 – $6,055,000

2022-23 – $6,055,000

The set-off would only work for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, but at least for the first two seasons of the stretch portion of the contract, the amount the Suns would owe Knight would be a little over $3 million less, saving Phoenix an additional few million bucks on the cap.

Keep in mind that that $7 million contract offer is a completely made up and arbitrary number. Hypothetically he might sign a contract for $10+ million saving Phoenix even more, or he could sign a lower contract at much less than $7 million meaning that the Suns’ savings are far less.

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