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The NBA off-season continues to see a massive face lift as players move from one team to another. Along with the usual free agency signing option and the traditional trading that takes place, this year NBA Executives can take advantage of a special amnesty provision to help deal with the league's expensive luxury tax.

As part of the new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement, NBA Teams received a one-time amnesty provision that allowed teams over the salary cap to avoid luxury taxes, the surcharge a team must pay when it exceeds the NBA salary cap. To access the provision, teams could waive one high priced player and thereby avoid luxury taxes on that player's salary.

In doing so, an NBA team has to allow the waived player to become a free agent and at the same time, continue to pay that player's agreed upon salary for the duration of the contract. However, the amnesty provision allows teams to deduct the entire salary amount from the luxury tax threshold, thus saving a team the potential of one dollar in taxes for every dollar in the players salary.

As soon as the provision was announced, the one player expected to be a victim of the new rule was Dallas Maverick, Michael Finley. His release finally took place late last Monday night, a move that could eventually save the Mavericks a total of $51.8 million, the amount of Finley's contract, over the next three seasons.

The Mavs will definitely avoid the dollar-for-dollar tax on Finley's $15.9 million, 2005-2006 salary. The former All-Star was also set to receive $17.3 and $18.6 million over the next two seasons, the final years of a seven-year signed back in 2001. The final savings will be determined by the team's salary total over those two years.

With the release, Finley isn't able to re-sign with the Mavericks until the completion of that original contract. Finley was considered a target of the new rule because of his falling performance level and enormous salary.

In his first five seasons in Dallas, Finley averaged at least 20 points a game, but his scoring averages have dropped every year since a career-high season of 22.6 points per game in 1999-2000.

The 2004-2005 season was one of Finley's worst in his 10 year, NBA career. He scored only 15.7 points a game, his lowest average ever in Dallas and averaged a career-low 4.1 rebounds.
Ultimately, the Mavs are releasing a declining player with what formerly had been a debilitating, long-term contract. Though they are stuck with the salary, they no longer have the additional trouble of having his salary count against the luxury tax figure.

The Mavericks have already made a move to replace Finley, signing swingman Doug Christie on Friday. Ironically, Christie was waived the previous Thursday by the Orlando Magic under the same amnesty clause.

In fact the provision has already set in motion the movement of many other players. Free agent forward Brian Grant, released by the Los Angeles Lakers under the same provision, was the first player waived under the one-time "amnesty clause" to sign with another team when he signed a one-year, $1.67 million contract Thursday with the Phoenix Suns.

Look for many other teams to use the amnesty provision, making this off season second to none when it comes to NBA players making new homes around the league.