Why the Orlando Magic are waiving Fran Vazquez… 19 years after the draft! | Relief

After 19 years with the Orlando Magic, Fran Vazquez is now a free agent in the best league in the world. The Florida franchise has retained the rights to the Galician NBA center since he was drafted in 2005, although it will be difficult for him to sign a new contract since he has been retired for four years. The operation, carried out purely for financial reasons, was to be able to sign Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and extend his free agents, Gogi Bitadze, Gary Harris, Moe Wagner and Jonathan Isaac’s extension.

Vazquez, the 11th overall pick in 2005 by the Orlando Magic, was the third Spanish player selected in the lottery, along with Pau Gasol and Ricky Rubio, to never make it to the NBA. Orlando waited for him for almost two decades, the last four years, even after his retirement. First he moved to Magic to play for Akaswaya Girona, then six years at Barcelona to finish his career at Unicaja, Iberostar Tenerife and Basket Zaragoza until 2020. In the midst of a pandemic, Fran hung up his boots as the greatest stopper in ACB history. with four Copa del Rey titles (and the MVP in 2010), three leagues and the 2010 Euroleague. But Orlando never got to enjoy it.

And this afternoon it finally disappeared from the franchise’s books. The only thing keeping that deal in place was that if he decided to move to the NBA, Vazquez could sign with the Magic above the salary cap. holding Bird’s rights. Vazquez, along with LeBron James and Chris Paul, were the only players whose rights were still active from 2005. The same draft also produced classic names of European basketball such as Ersan Ilyasova, Roko Ukic, Erazem Lorbek and Axel Ervell, to name four, although only Vazquez was still an NBA player. passively through holding the cap.

Keeping the cap is one of the most difficult concepts to understand in the NBA.. This is the salary cap space reserved for a hypothetical new contract for a player whose team retains the rights, at least until he signs with another team or negotiates a new contract. The cap hold serves to prevent franchises from using the salary cap space for free agents from other teams before using it for their own players. An example would be this year’s Sixers, who had to give up all of their players except Joel Embiid to sign Paul George, Andre Drummond, or Caleb Martin, but kept the cap hit on Tyrese Maxey, who ended up signing for nearly $204 million.

There are also Spanish players whose rights remain in the NBA. The Warriors hold the record for Ousmane Garuba ($2.1 million). for another year, having been a member of the team in recent weeks, New Orleans keeps Willy Hernangomez’s home ($4.9 million). In contrast, players whose final contracts have been terminated, such as Serge Ibaka, Marc Gasol or Juancho Hernangomez, are free agents whose rights are not owned by any team. For example, in Mirotic’s case, the Bucks waived his rights when he announced he was returning to Europe in 2019. It’s the details of the NBA and its salary complexities that make a player who has never set foot in the league and has been retired for four years the centerpiece of 2024.