Utah Jazz: No luxury-tax relief if Harpring retires

The Jazz would not receive luxury-tax relief if veteran forward Matt Harpring retired for medical reasons this offseason, a leading NBA collective bargaining expert said Friday.

Harpring said Thursday that he's contemplating retirement because of a lingering ankle injury, and that he plans to let the Jazz know his plans by late August.

Harpring has undergone three knee surgeries, two being microfracture procedures, and one on each ankle.

Surgery last offseason on his right ankle led to severe infection, and the ankle still hasn't healed properly.

A provision in the collective bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players association provides for possible salary-cap and luxury-tax relief in the case of players who sustain a career-ending injury.

But because Harpring took part in the playoffs for the Jazz this past postseason, California-based cap guru Larry Coon suggested, a required one-year waiting period before such relief can be granted would squash the notion of the Jazz having Harpring's $6.5 million for next season purged from their payroll.

"There is no way they can have his '09-10 salary removed from the books," Coon said.

It is possible that the Jazz negotiate down Harpring's salary via a buyout, or that they fold his contract into a trade.

They potentially can also replace Harpring on their roster by using a disabled player exception, but that seems unlikely as it would mean adding and not subtracting salary.

The Jazz are in jeopardy of being an NBA tax-payer after next season, and could be fined upwards of $13 million if they match another team's pricey offer sheet to restricted free agent Paul Millsap, sign a requisite 13th player and fail to shed any salary via trade.

MILLSAP UPDATE: With Millsap's quest for a lucrative contract offer seemingly at a standstill three full days into the opening of the NBA's summer free-agency shopping market, theories abound as to what might await for the Jazz's backup power forward.

One is that an offer from Northwest Division-rival Oklahoma City eventually will come, though perhaps later rather than sooner.

The thinking in that regard, according to ESPN.com's Chris Broussard, is that it would afford the Jazz "less time to prepare to match their offer."

Because he's restricted, Utah is permitted to match any offer sheet he signs with another team.