Nocioni really wanted to join the Bulls 3 years ago but his team, Tau in Spain, refused to lower his buyout. They also demanded it up front.

Bulls could only pay $300,000 toward it (it's $500k now) so the deal was going to collapse.

However, Nocioni made a deal with Tau to accept the transfer fee over 3 years - and he would pay it himself.

most of Noc's salary the past 3 years went to his old team for his buyout.

This contract is the Bulls' thank-you to Nocioni - and a payback of the money that he paid himself so that he could play for the Bulls.

Posted by djsunyc:

btw, some more info on the bulls - they are the most profitable team in the nba. and paxson earns a % of the profits so he's making some coin. BUT reinsdorf's mandate is to avoid the luxury at all costs and will only dole out contracts to players they feel deserve them. reinsdorf will pump money into the whitesox, but not the bulls. remember, jordan, pippen and phil were grossly underpaid during their runs. only the final 2 years (and 4 titles later) did jordan get paid. and they s&t pippen when it was his turn to get paid. so paxson can't just go out and make deals for these big name players and add to the payroll.

but by re-signing nocioni, it does give them another moderate contract to use in a deal to swap some salaries for a big name guy. again, it's another example of how gm's are at the financial mercy of their owners and why we do have a significant advantage in that department.

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by COSSUCKS:

Isnt Rashad Lewis a UFA? Arent they looking to do a sign and trade for him? What is the difference?

The Magic gave up Darko's Salary Cap allocation to sign Lewis. Seattle did not give up their allocation for Lewis.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by Ira:

Posted by Pharzeone:

Posted by COSSUCKS:

Isnt Rashad Lewis a UFA? Arent they looking to do a sign and trade for him? What is the difference?

The Magic gave up Darko's Salary Cap allocation to sign Lewis. Seattle did not give up their allocation for Lewis.

So, basically, it's the Bobcats or mle for Darko. Thanks for clearing that up.

So Orlando can't do a sign and trade above the MLE involving Darko either?

No, they put themselves in a bad spot. They clear cap space to sign Lewis. So they are now at $39 million before Lewis contract. His contract would put them right at the cap amount. They would have to try and convince Darko to sign on the real cheap. That's why now they rethought it and are asking Seattle for a S&T. They weren't thinking down there.