This is how the salary cap game is played.
Mo Williams is dead money, owed $2.2 million this season by the Cleveland Cavaliers, he decided he didn’t want to play anymore. The Cavaliers kept Williams on the roster and the books in case they could use that salary in a trade, and they did shipping him to Atlanta as a throw in with the Kyle Korver trade. Atlanta then traded him to Denver, because the Nuggets wanted to add $2.2 million to their payroll and bring them closer to the salary floor. But they didn’t want him on the roster, so they waived him.
Enter the Philadephia 76ers.
The Sixers, according to league sources, have claimed Mo Williams off waivers
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 20, 2017
Philly's motivation for claiming Mo Williams would be the same as Denver trading for him: To get $2.2 million closer to the salary floor.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) January 20, 2017
But the Sixers were not done.
#NBA source: #Sixers claimed Mo Williams off waivers, then waived him & signed Chasson Randle to 2nd 10-day contract. How it worked.
— Tom Moore (@TomMoorePhilly) January 20, 2017
Now we see if one of the handful of teams with a worse record than the Sixers decides they would rather have the salary on their books.
To be clear, teams under the salary floor still have to pay that money to the players. Let’s say a team ends up $2 million under that floor, then the team pays $2 million to be divided among the players on that roster. So, bringing in a player like Williams just saves them cash.
