NBA Rumors: Waiving Brandon Roy Is Blazers' Best Option with Amnesty Clause
Forget about Brandon Roy's remaining four-year, $68 million contract. Forget about his 18-point explosion in the fourth quarter against Dallas in the playoffs last year. And forget about the word amnesty.
Every time the amnesty clause is brought up, so is Roy's name. There is good reason for this, but the reason the Blazers should waive Roy isn't to comply but to take advantage of it.
The Oregonian explains amnesty better than I can in Lehman's terms as:
"It's a method the CBA will have that will allow teams to shed salary for the purposes of salary cap and amnesty tax relief. This is a particular concern because the new CBA will include a more severe luxury tax that will kick in during the 2013-14 season, and tax-payers will have more limited options for signing free agents.
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Cutting Roy, according to Howard Beck of the New York Times, won't put the Blazers under the cap. They also have two years to decide before the harsher punishments kick into effect, and Roy was a potential franchise player.
While fans and the organization alike should be excited about Roy possibly regaining form for a little while, they need to take a look around.
Portland has been to the postseason in each of the last three seasons. They've also been eliminated in the first round in six games in each of those series.
In fact, Portland hasn't won a postseason series since the year 2000.
No team is better described as "stuck in neutral" than the Blazers.
Call it what you will, but Roy is a part of that. Barring some sort of miracle, Roy's knees will never be 100 percent again. He won't be the franchise player they envisioned him to be, and it is not his fault. Knees are knees, and they are a constant killer in the NBA. It is a shame, but it is reality.
Roy may be good again this year, but how much better will he make the Blazers? They've been in this position for three seasons now.
Even if they experience a small decline this year, they need something new, something fresh.
The reason for the move will ultimately be irrelevant, but waiving Roy now gets them out of neutral for better or worse. Portland will then be able to see what they need to do without him and can begin a new era in Blazers basketball.
