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Pacers Salary Series: The flotsam and extraneous

By Tony East

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 20: Monta Ellis #11 of the Indiana Pacers handles the ball against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on April 20, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - APRIL 20: Monta Ellis #11 of the Indiana Pacers handles the ball against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game Three of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2017 NBA Playoffs on April 20, 2017 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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In this series, 8p9s writer Tony East breaks down the contract situation of each Pacers player. In the final edition, we’ll look at all the non-NBA contract player payments.

Herb Simon will be paying over $2,500,000 in salary to have three players not play for the Pacers this season. Between Monta Ellis, Rakeem Christmas, and Georges Niang, that $2.5 million of cap room is gone. All three of these players were waived in the last six months.

For Christmas and Niang, the payments are easy. Christmas had a minimum contract that was partially guaranteed. His guaranteed amount in his contract was $172,552. Essentially, that amount is how much the Pacers will pay Christmas this season. He has since signed a contract in Turkey.

Georges Niang is in the same situation as Christmas, but he only had $100,000 guaranteed. He has since signed with the Golden State Warriors. They both carry a cap hit equivalent to their guaranteed total salary.

Monta Ellis

Monta Ellis has a unique contract situation for the Pacers for a number of reasons.

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He will make more money from Indiana this season than T.J. Leaf, Glenn Robinson III, Joe Young, Ike Anigbogu, and all the training camp guys. His salary is $2,245,400 this season… and next season… and every season until 2021-22.

This is because the Pacers “stretched” his remaining salary. He had $11,227,000 guaranteed over the remaining life of his contract, but the Pacers stretched that cap hit.

When calculating the number of years a contract stretches over, it is ((number of years remaining on contract X 2)+1). Because Ellis had a second season that was non-guaranteed, his remaining guaranteed salary was stretched over five years instead of three.

And thus, Monta Ellis will make $2.2 million for the next five years. Whether you like it or not, that is what’s happening.

Two-way contracts

The Pacers used the new type of contract, the two-way contract, to sign two players; 2nd round pick Edmond Sumner as well as Alex Poythress.

This contract allows Sumner and Poythress to spend up to 45 days with the NBA team, where they will be paid a pro-rated NBA salary. The rest of their days, they will spend in the G-league, where they will make a G-league level salary.

Per Basketball Insiders’ salary sheet, these players will make $4,608 dollars every day they are with the Pacers and $528 every day they are with the Mad Ants. They carry no cap hit against the salary cap.

All Together

So, these 5 players will make somewhere between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000 from the Pacers combined. All that money and the most games combined they can play for the Pacers this season is 82 total games between the five of them.

Next: How will the Draft Lottery changes affect the Pacers?

Who knows what any of these players have in their future. Some of them may never play in the NBA again while others may just be getting started on a long career.  Regardless, they are in a unique situation with the Pacers now and should be monitored going forward.

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