Coming off their best season in the better part of a decade, the Magic committed to major long-term spending this summer.
The result? An uninspiring 7-10 start.
But at least Orlando will get salary-cap/luxury-tax relief with Timofey Mozgov’s stretched cap hit – $5,573,334 this season and each of the next two.
Shams Charania of The Athletic:
The NBA has removed center Timofey Mozgov’s $16.7M salary from Orlando’s salary books via career-ending injury/illness application, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. The Magic stretched-and-waived Mozgov in July.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 27, 2019
The Magic will still pay Mozgov his $16.72 million. The money will just no longer count toward the salary cap and luxury tax.
This season, Orlando gains a little more breathing room beneath the luxury tax. Next summer, the Magic will have greater flexibility to use the mid-level exception without going into the tax. If Evan Fournier declines his $17.15 million player option, they could even open cap space. Orlando will also get a break in 2021-22, when Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, Terrence Ross and Al-Farouq Aminu are guaranteed eight-digit salaries and Jonathan Isaac will begin his next deal.