Report: Nuggets' 5-year, $60M deal with Faried could drop to 4 years, discussions ongoing
Early Monday morning, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported that the Denver Nuggets had agreed to a five-year, $60 million contract extension with Kenneth Faried.
While the deal seems a fair one on the surface, it may not be cap-compliant. As a result, the Nuggets and Faried are now discussing the extension with the league, and the deal could turn into a four-year pact instead.
CBA verbiage on 5 years for rookie ext. less than max is ambiguous, at best. Denver talking w/ NBA on Faried now, could turn to 4-year deal.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) October 6, 2014
As Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk points out, the collective bargaining agreement isn't all that ambiguous on the matter. The CBA, specifically in Article IX, Section 1 and Article I, Section 1, outline what's allowable on an extension of a rookie scale contract.
While technically a rookie scale contract can be extended five seasons - a team can select one Designated Player to receive a five-year extension - the designated player's first year salary must be the maximum allowable.
In other words, you can extend a rookie scale deal five years, but only for a maximum extension. Five-year extensions below the maximum aren't allowed, and if the Nuggets are to pay Faried a $12 million annual salary, they could only do so on a four-year extension.
The two sides have until Oct. 31 to work out the extension. If they can't come to terms on a workable four-year salary by then, Faried would enter restricted free agency next summer.