Philadelphia 76ers: Elton Brand and the NBA's Amnesty Clause

After the split in basketball-related income and the new mid-level exception, one of the most interesting items in the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement is known as the "Amnesty Clause."

Under the new CBA, each team is allowed to waive one player and have that player's salary removed from the team's salary cap. Once that occurs, any other team under the salary cap is free to submit a claim for the player under a modified waiver process.

In short, teams can submit offers to assume some of the amnestied player's remaining contract. After all of the bids are submitted, the team with the highest offer is awarded the player, while his original team is still required to pay him the remaining amount on his contract.

While the amnesty clause can be exercised prior to any season of the CBA, it can only be used for contracts that are currently in effect.

In recent weeks, many have suggested that the Philadelphia 76ers use their amnesty exception on power forward Elton Brand. While Brand might be the team's most valuable player, his contract hampers the team from acquiring the superstar-level talent it needs in order to compete with the elite teams in the Eastern Conference.

Given the flexibility with which the clause can be used, the 76ers essentially have three options:

Exercise the amnesty clause on Elton Brand prior to this season

Using the amnesty clause on Brand frees up approximately $35 million from the 76ers' salary cap over the next two seasons. However, the 76ers will be on the hook for most (if not all) of his salary, and it's doubtful that the team's new ownership group would be willing to pay that much to someone who isn't on the roster.

Brand was arguably the team's MVP last season, leading the 76ers in points (15.0 per game), rebounds (8.3), and blocks (1.3), while providing invaluable leadership for a young unit. The 76ers wouldn't be getting rid of Brand due to a lack of productivity—they'd be doing it purely for salary cap (and luxury tax) purposes.

Pulling the trigger on Brand now primarily makes sense if Philadelphia plans to go after one of the prizes in this year's free agent class. With the move, the 76ers would have about $18 million in cap space—money they could use to re-sign Thaddeus Young and to also go after a highly-coveted big man (Nene, Tyson Chandler, Marc Gasol).

For the record, the chance that the 76ers use the amnesty clause on Brand this year is highly unlikely, especially considering the fact that Brand might be head coach Doug Collins' favorite player. But it is an option, and it's definitely something that has been discussed by the team's front office in recent weeks.

Exercise the amnesty clause on Elton Brand prior to next season

The 2012 free agent class is far deeper than this year's crop, so it may make sense for Philadelphia to wait a year before using the amnesty provision on Brand. Orlando's Dwight Howard is clearly at the head of the class when it comes to post players, but other intriguing options at the 4 and 5 spots include Kevin Love, Brook Lopez and Andrew Bynum.

Keeping the 32-year-old Brand would give the team a sense of stability, which isn't a bad thing for a squad that finished the season winning 38 of their final 66 games. And for the team's front office, eating $18 million in salary (and getting another year of production out of Brand) would be a much easier pill to swallow than cutting bait with Brand this offseason.

Without Brand, the Sixers are only committed to approximately $33 million in salary in 2012-13 (assuming that the team picks up reasonable options on Evan Turner, Jrue Holiday and Craig Brackins). In theory, if Philadelphia re-signs Young and center Spencer Hawes this offseason for a combined $11 million/year, the 76ers could potentially have $15 million to spend during next year's free agent bonanza.

Do not use the amnesty clause on Elton Brand at all

Of course, the 76ers could opt not to use the clause on Brand entirely. If they're insistent on amnestying someone, the prime candidate would be small forward Andres Nocioni—the move would free up $6.65 million from the team's cap this season.

Doing that would give the 76ers a bit more flexibility in re-signing Young and/or Hawes this offseason, and would put them well under the NBA's luxury tax threshold. Then again, Philadelphia could just buyout the final year of Nocioni's deal—his salary being on the books won't prevent them from making any significant moves this season.

As it stands, Brand and Nocioni are the only two players on the roster where using the amnesty clause is a legitimate option. Despite the disdain many 76ers' fans have for their starting small forward, using the amnesty provision on Andre Iguodala would be flat-out irresponsible. Not only is Iguodala an extremely productive player, but he is far too valuable of an asset to let go for nothing.

The 76ers aren't required to use the amnesty clause at all, but the option to free up a significant portion of cap space might just be too enticing to ignore.

Let the debate begin.