OT - How much Carmelo can make as an NBA free agent

Would you forgo a minimum of $11.4 million in guaranteed net income and possibly much more to play with Derrick Rose, LeBron James or Dwight Howard? Reports suggest that Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony might be willing to do just that. Anthony, who has made more than $130 million in salary and tens of millions in endorsements during his 11-year NBA career, has until Monday to inform New York whether he will opt out of the final year of his contract and become a free agent on July 1. Several media reports indicate that Anthony will test free agency and explore signing with the Bulls, Heat or Rockets.

Despite Anthony's apparent intentions, the NBA's collective bargaining agreement creates powerful incentives for the seven-time All-Star to remain with the Knicks. Under the CBA, so-called Larry Bird rights enable a team to re-sign qualifying players for an extra year and at higher annual increases than they would receive if they signed with another team. A player qualifies for Bird rights by being on the team's roster for at least three seasons, among several other conditions adroitly explained by Larry Coon in his NBA Salary Cap FAQ. Anthony, who has been a Knick since February 2011, meets the criteria and can sign with New York for five years and $129.1 million. Rival teams can offer him a four-year, $95.9 million deal, after which Anthony would be a 34-year-old free agent.

Anthony's financial decision-making is also affected by income tax rates, which vary widely by state and, as New York City residents know, municipality. SI.com and tax expert Robert Raiola have crunched the numbers for Anthony (whose projected contract amounts are provided by Spotrac.com). We break down how much he would likely earn, after taxes and the standard 4 percent agent commission, if he signed max deals with the Knicks, Bulls, Heat and Rockets.

Keep in mind, however, that Chicago and Houston would have to make multiple moves to sign Anthony to anything approaching a max contract, and Miami would face an even more difficult challenge. If those teams fail to create the space, Anthony would have to sign for even less than what is indicated below:



These numbers make clear that Anthony should be paid extraordinarily well regardless of the team employing him, the state he plays in and the income tax rates in the place he calls home. Anthony is also poised to earn millions in endorsements regardless of his decision. But these figures also reveal that the former scoring champion would be guaranteed $11.4 million to $12.8 million more in take-home pay if he re-signs with the Knicks. Put differently, Anthony, as a "max player," would be paid substantially different amounts of money to perform the same employment services merely because he already plays for New York. Anthony could sign with the Bulls, Heat or Rockets and then, as a free agent in 2018, try to recoup what he would have been paid by the Knicks in the '18-19 season, but chances are low he'd attract a base salary anywhere near $29 million.

This is a really interesting article, read the rest of it here - http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nb...nthony-free-agency-knicks-bulls-heat-rockets/

 

In the United States, the jock tax is the colloquially named income tax levied against visitors to a city or state who earn money in that jurisdiction. Since a state cannot afford to track the many individuals who do business on an itinerant basis, the ones targeted are usually very wealthy and high profile, namely professional athletes. Not only are the working schedules of famous sports players public, so are their salaries. The state can compute and collect the amount with very little investment of time and effort.

Example

After the 2000 Major League Baseball season, Alex Rodriguez signed what was then the largest contract in American sports history, a ten-year contract worth $252 million, with the Texas Rangers. The tax collecting authorities of other states were notified alongside the public, and would separately demand that Rodriguez's employer withhold the tax due from his salary and remit it to each of them. Even though the state of Texas did not have an income tax, he still had to pay the various state income taxes applied to each away game in each location. It is estimated that Rodriguez paid $520,000 a year for state income taxes outside his own state.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jock_tax

 

So he doesn't pay the jock tax if he stays in NY. How does that work?