NBA Holds Up Walton-Maxwell Trade on a Contract Snag

The Bill Walton-for-Cedric Maxwell trade hit another snag Saturday, apparently when the National Basketball Assn. office found a problem with the Clippers’ proposed contract for Maxwell.

The trade of Walton from the Clippers to the Boston Celtics for Maxwell has been agreed to by all parties except Gary Bettman, the NBA’s general counsel, who rules on whether player contracts conform to the league salary-cap rules.

Bettman, vacationing in Bermuda, received a copy of Maxwell’s contract, restructured by the Clippers to help them with the salary cap, and apparently found something to make him put a hold on the trade Saturday.

“We’ve held the deal together for so long, I just don’t think it will fall through because of this, but maybe it will,” Clipper General Manager Carl Scheer said . “We just have to satisfy the league properly. I’m not totally sure what it’s going to take.”

The Clippers, who are trying to save money under the cap to sign No. 1 draft pick Benoit Benjamin, are believed to be hung up in their attempt to restructure Maxwell’s contract.

Maxwell’s contract currently calls for $805,000 guaranteed in each of the next three seasons. For the fourth season, in which Maxwell would be paid $600,000, the Clippers would have an option to exercise a buy-out clause if they didn’t want Maxwell back.

To get some maneuverability beneath the cap, the Clippers could be trying to lower Maxwell’s yearly salary and extend its length. Or they could be attempting to make a loan to Maxwell as part of his salary in the contract. Loans and their yearly cash value are not necessarily counted against a team’s salary cap, and therefore they have been used before as a method to avoid exceeding the salary cap.

However, the league disallowed a New York Knick offer sheet to then-free agent Jim Paxson because of a loan in the contract.

The league had no problem accepting Walton’s new contract with Boston. Walton has agreed to a three-year deal for $420,000 a season, according to a league source, and it does not contain incentives as he had in his contract with the Clippers.

Even though the Celtics exceed the salary cap, they are getting Walton for about half of what Maxwell was paid, so the deal is within the salary cap guidelines.

The Clippers expected the deal, which had been rumored since June, to be completed after Maxwell’s left knee passed a doctor’s examination Friday.