Patrick Ewing and money

[Robby]

I was going through the NBA salaries at Patricia's Basketball website and found something interesting about Ewing's salary.

94-95: $4,486,700
95-96: $18,724,000
96-97: $3,000,000
97-98: $20,500,000
98-99: $18,500,000
99-00: $15,000,000

Anybody care to explain to me why the 96-97 salary is so much different than the previous and following years. My hunch was that it may have been due to the whole Union decertification lockout around that time but I'm not sure. Does anyone know?

[Rens]

I tihnk he took a paycut so they could sign Larry Johnson.

[hmm]

.................................

[Andrew]

The Knicks traded Anthony Mason to Charlotte for Larry Johnson in 1996, he wasn't a free agent (courtesy of that 12 year, $84 million contract). Maybe it's an error in the listings?

[Robby]

Well, the Knicks also signed Allan Houston that season but I don't see how Houston's contract would require Ewing to take such a massive paycut.

[Alcoholic]

Maybe he did it for the good of the club.

[Matthew]

Fuck, he made 20 million the next season. What did pippen get? around 2 or 3 million in 97/98..

[Jowe]

The Knicks traded Anthony Mason to Charlotte for Larry Johnson in 1996, he wasn't a free agent (courtesy of that 12 year, $84 million contract). Maybe it's an error in the listings?

but wasn't larry johnson a sign and trade deal?

[Sauru]

sign and trades dont require clearing cap space though.

[Robby]

I believe the Knicks also signed Chris Childs that season for a fairly high contract for the year.

[Andrew]

The Knicks traded Anthony Mason to Charlotte for Larry Johnson in 1996, he wasn't a free agent (courtesy of that 12 year, $84 million contract). Maybe it's an error in the listings?

but wasn't larry johnson a sign and trade deal?

Not as far as I remember - I'm almost certain that LJ's 12 year $84 million extension was signed at least a couple of years prior to the 1996 offseason.

I had forgotten about Houston and Childs signing with the Knicks in 1996 though. The Knicks had the highest payroll at the beginning of 1995/1996 as well.

New York Knicks ........ $43,329,000
Player Salary
Patrick Ewing .......... $18,724,000
Anthony Mason ........... 3,472,000
Charles Smith ........... 3,357,000
Derek Harper ............ 2,837,000
Charles Oakley .......... 2,400,000
Bo Kimble ............... 1,700,000 (released)
Anthony Bonner .......... 1,690,000 (released)
John Starks ............. 1,613,000
Doug Christie ........... 1,466,000
Herb Williams ........... 1,300,000
Doc Rivers .............. 1,137,000 (released)
Hubert Davis ............ 1,116,000
Monty Williams .......... 845,000
Charlie Ward ............ 722,000
Gary Grant .............. 500,000
Eric Anderson ........... 225,000 (released)
Anthony Tucker .......... 225,000

If I recall correctly, the only players whose contracts did not expire and come off the Knicks' books in 1996 were Ewing, Starks, Ward, Oakley, Williams and Mason. The rest had either become free agents and left town or were traded for players with expiring contracts. That would leave a payroll of $24,759,000. That's still higher than the $24.3 mil cap during the 96/97 season.

So perhaps Ewing did indeed take a huge paycut, though I don't recall reading anything about it at the time.