The league has granted the Magic’s career-ending injury/illness application and removed center Timofey Mozgov‘s $16.7MM salary from their books, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
The decision significantly improves Orlando’s bottom line for this season and beyond. The Magic drop from $2.3MM to $7.8MM below the luxury tax line and have a $10.7MM buffer below the hard cap, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets.
Mozgov, who entered the 2019/20 league year on an expiring $16.72MM contract, was waived by Orlando during the offseason. However, because the last year of his deal was fully guaranteed, it remains on the Magic’s books, having been stretched across three seasons at an annual rate of approximately $5.57MM.
Those charges are now erased for all three seasons, as Josh Robbins of The Athletic points out (Twitter link).
Mozgov, 33, was initially acquired by the Magic during the 2018 offseason in a salary-dump deal, but didn’t appear in a game for the team last season due to knee issues. He underwent an arthroscopic procedure in January.
If a player is diagnosed with an ailment believed to be career-ending, his team is eligible to apply for cap relief one year after he last appeared in a game. An independent physician or a Fitness to Play panel needed to rule it would be a medically unacceptable risk for Mozgov to return to action. The veteran center will still receive his remaining salary.
I’m not sure if this is cool or not. The magic benefit by taking on the salary and I’m sure they got an asset in the deal. But then the magic are able to totally right off that salary and it doesn’t count. Not fair to the salary dumping team that traded him? Just thinking out loud.
It’s a gamble. It wasn’t a guarantee to receive the removal. The Magic won.
I wonder if there’s been a worse player who’s made as much money as he has. Like I would love to see a list of career earnings to actual value on the court.
See Batum, Nicolas
I am thinking Omer Asik. I disagree with Batum as well. He might be overpaid, but he has been a positive contribution for most of his career.
Batum is WAAAY better than Mozgov. Not even close.
To this day I cannot believe the Lakers gave him a 64million dollar contract!!
They’re not exactly the best run team in the NBA. They gave away a ton of players to rent Anthony Davis for 1 year.
Like the Rockets giving up 2 unprotected 1st round picks and 2 pick swaps along with CP for Russell Westbrook? Also Davis wanted to go to the Lakers and will more likely than not resign with them.
So Davis’ plan is… what? He has already left being a main cog on a marginal team. He will get the max anywhere if they have it to offer, and good teams do not.
The NBA and MLB are full of guys that basically stole money. Mozgov was never even “good” he was always marginal and the Lakers smh lol.
Better than the billionaire owners pocketing more.
Huh?
Why would you say something like that?
A billionaire owner who purchased a team should do so and run it as a charity with no profit? The players thus can get rich and become multi, multi-millionaires but it’s not cool the owner is a billionaire? I don’t understand why you would say what you did, please explain.
Saying players “steal money” is wrong. The owner signs off on everything. When players massively produce on rookie deals no one says a word. Espically in a no salary cap leauge like baseball.
I never said players steal money. I think they should make the most they possibly can.
Oh not to mention signing CP3 to a 4 year 160 million dollar deal in the first place.
One word to describe contracts handed out in the summer of 2016: yikes
Totally agree. That jump in the salary cap because of League profitability was a wonderful time if you were a free agent then.
The Rockets were lucky enough to find a way to get rid of Ryan Anderson after giving him a terrible $80M contract. They got luckier a second time when they rid themselves of CP3’s $160M deal.
All Summer Sixteen
considering how staggeringly banal his career stats are ( 3pt. percentage was .190 for career ) it is mind boggling the amount of money that was thrown at him. he probably owns and lives in the nicest high rise deluxe condo in all of Saint Petersburg , Russia ( stocked with Russian Caviar & Belvedere Polish Rye Vodka ( yes it is better than Russian Vodka )