According to an unconfirmed report from the Detroit News’ Vincent Goodwill, the Detroit Pistons have bought out the remaining two years of Richard Hamilton’s contract for only $8 million dollars.
This is significant since it will save the Pistons roughly $11 million dollars.
Reports surfaced late Friday afternoon saying that the Pistons reportedly had a verbal agreement with Hamilton to buy him out, however the terms were not known. Hamilton was set be owed $10 million this season which broke down to $12.5 million because of the lockout. Next year Hamilton would’ve been owed $9.5 million dollars.
Since it is a buyout, it will still count against the cap and divided among the remaining years of the contract. So $4 million will go towards the cap for the Pistons this season and $4 million next season.
It’s also important to note that the Pistons still have their Amnesty Clause available to them since they didn’t use it on Hamilton in this case.
With Hamilton gone, the Pistons have approximately $52 million dollars committed to 11 players. It looks as though they’re still looking to re-sing restricted free agent Rodney Stucky and rumor have been swirling about the team maybe being interested in recently Amnestied Gilbert Arenas.
Hamilton too shouldn’t be without a team for long. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix believes that the Chicago Bulls are a lock to obtain the services of Hamilton. Mannix points out that the Bulls have been looking for a shooting guard to pair alongside superstar Derrick Rose and Hamilton is seen as a good fit.
Ref: SI.com, Mlive.com, dimemag.com (image)