The Detroit Pistons have the option of lopping one of several big contracts off of the books thanks to the "amnesty clause" being included in the new NBA collective bargaining agreement. The team apparently won't use the clause this season, however, or at least don't have any plans to do so as of Wednesday.
The amnesty clause allows a team to waive a player without his salary counting against the salary cap, allowing the team to sign someone more affordable in the interim. The Pistons don't have that in their current plans, though, according to Vince Goodwill of The Detroit News.
A source told The News the team doesn't plan on using the clause - at this time.
The Pistons have the life of the collective bargaining agreement to use the clause, and it appears the team will focus on the trade market.
Richard Hamilton is the obvious candidate the Pistons could use the clause on, since they nearly traded their longtime shooting guard twice the past couple seasons. Hamilton is scheduled to make around $12 million this season, but it will be prorated for 66 games.
The team apparently believes that it's higher-paid players -- Hamilton, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva -- will either have a resurgence this season or still have interest in the trade market.