Mitch Kupchak on ESPN LA 710

Aonex wrote:Mitch: "Dwight is our future"... guess that means we're going all in this summer to re-sign him.

kenshi1023 wrote:

khmrP wrote:I would've enjoyed the interview more if I didn't have to hear Cowheard voice, this dude as much of a troll as that other espn white guy that Steven A. Smith goes off on, forgot his name now.

skip?

TIME wrote:

therealdeal wrote:So about that recap?

The part I heard was Mitch insisting that they were NOT trading Dwight, and that MDA would be the coach going forward.

Aonex wrote:Yeah, I think what another poster said about Pau's future is right on... if Dwight re-signs, then Pau will either get traded or amnestied since the repeater tax hit would be too large. If Dwight walks, then I guess we keep Pau.

Aonex wrote:Well that's good news... so we still have another shot with the big 4 next year?

What is the repeater tax? It's a clause in the new collective bargaining agreement that raises the luxury tax rate for teams that are serial tax payers. It doesn't actually go into effect until 2014-15 as a penalty, but what teams do now affects whether they'll be on the hook then. Basically, if you exceed the tax threshold in three out of the previous four seasons, you're on the hook for the higher tax if you exceed the threshold again. The "clock" began last year. The first year of the repeater tax is in 2014-15. Only teams that have been taxpayers in 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 will pay it. In 2015-16, teams that have paid the tax in three out of four of those seasons will pay repeater tax. Then 2011-12 falls off. And so it goes.
How bad is the repeater tax? At the first level of luxury tax -- up to $5 million over the threshold -- the base tax will be $1.50 for every dollar over the line. The repeater tax is $2.50 for every dollar over the line. It matches as you rise up the ladder from there -- the repeater tax is always $1 per dollar in exceedance of the threshold more than the base rate. For $20 million over the threshold, that's a $20 million difference based on whether you're a repeater or not.
Here's an example. Let's assume the luxury tax threshold rises to $75 million by 2014-15. Let's say a team like the Lakers has a payroll of $95 million -- $20 million over the threshold. If they were not repeater, their total tax payment would be $45 million, and their total payroll would be $140 million. If they were a repeater, their total tax payment would be $65 million, and their total payroll would be $160 million.