Here is an interesting extract:

The So-Called “Gilbert Arenas” Provision

The difference in the application of the salaries for each team is where the loophole lies. This structure allows a team with a plethora of cap room to back-load an offer sheet significantly in the third and fourth year, only needing to fit the average of all four years (or three years, depending on length of the offer sheet) under the cap in the first season of the deal.

The Houston Rockets took full advantage of this recently with their offer sheet to Chicago Bulls center Omer Asik. They submitted a three-year, $24.3 million offer, paying around $5 million in the first two years before ballooning to almost $15 million in year three. Houston, with boatloads of cap room, only needs to fit the average of the total deal, or around $8.1 million, under the cap each year. But if Chicago matched the offer, they would have to pay Asik $5 million this year and next, and then almost $15 million in 2014-15 when they are already paying big men Carlos Boozer and Joakim Noah almost $30 million combined. Tack on Derrick Rose’s max deal, and those four players would take up Chicago’s entire salary cap. And given the Bulls’ typical aversion to the luxury tax, especially when the penalty will be more severe in 2014-15, it is a virtual certainty they will not match the offer for Asik. This was a strategic move by Houston to ensure they get the player they want through a loophole in Gilbert Arenas Provision designed to help teams keep their successful second-round picks.

The Toronto Raptors used the exact same concept with their offer sheet on Tuesday to Landry Fields, back-loading the contract to make the third year higher than the first two and likely preventing the Knicks from being able to match. The Houston Rockets and Jeremy Lin agreed to a four-year, $30 million offer sheet, which includes a team option in year four. Lin will make $5.2 million over the first two years, before getting a bump to $9.3 million for the remaining two years of this contract. Expect to see more of the same going forward this summer. My bet for who’s next: Devin Ebanks.

http://www.truthaboutit.net/2012/07/the-gilbert-arenas-provision-and-why-its-sometimes-better-to-be-a-second-round-pick.html#more-22110