Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey structured what was believed to be a brilliant contract deal with Nenê last Wednesday. In the deal, Nenê would essentially be playing for the guaranteed vet-minimum, however, would have several incentive-based bonuses that increased his salary to $10 million. What this meant at the time was that in a trade, the full value of Nenê’s contract would be worth $10 million in incoming and outgoing salary. The structure of the deal as it stands was key for pursuing a player such as Andre Iguodala.
Thursday afternoon, however, the NBA burst the Rockets’ bubble when they made a ruling on the validity of Nenê’s new contract.