The NBA and NBA Players Association have lowered the potential trade value of Nene’s latest contract with the Houston Rockets, according to multiple reports Thursday.
The original contract, which featured a $2.56 million base salary (the minimum for his experience) for the 2019-20 season and tiered bonuses based on games played and team wins making it worth up to $10 million, still stands and has now been approved.
However, even though the incentives are deemed “likely” under the league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) since Nene hit all of them last season, the league is not allowing them to count toward his outgoing salary in trade proposals. The 37-year-old veteran center will become trade eligible on Jan. 15, 2020.
In effect, once Nene is trade eligible, he will only count as $2.56 million in outgoing salary from the Rockets. This is far less than the $10 million figure that the Rockets were planning on, based on the creative bonus structure. In turn, that reduces the salary from other teams that GM Daryl Morey would be allowed to bring in for Nene.
ESPN’s Bobby Marks reported earlier Thursday that the league is allowed to interpret the agreement as a violation of the spirit of the rules, and it appears that’s the decision they ultimately came to.
Now entering his 18th season, Nene has averaged 6.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game as the primary backup center to Clint Capela over the past three years. The Rockets also signed 19-year NBA veteran Tyson Chandler this offseason at the same position.
