One of the interesting possibilities in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement is the potential return of the Allan Houston Rule.

In effect, what the one-time amnesty clause did in the last CBA was allow each team to cut one player (while still paying him all he was due under his contract) and not count his remaining salary for both salary cap and luxury tax purposes. It stands to reason that it could be a part of the next CBA as it holds a place as one of the few pieces on the table that both sides value. For the owners, it allows management more creative and financial freedom to make moves while it gives even more money to the players since the original contracts still hold and the owners make the moves to pay more money out in contracts.

However, there are a few things worth remembering when it comes to the Allan Houston Rule: 

1. It only matters if the owner is willing to spend extra money. Some teams that could benefit from the Allan Houston Rule will not use it because the only reason to do so is to spend even more money, particularly since the player under contract still gets his money. As such, cheap owners [I’m looking at YOU, Mr. Sterling] likely will not take use of the offer even if it could help their teams since it has heavy expenses.
   
   
2. It provides a reduced reward for teams heartily over the salary cap. Since the Allan Houston Rule can only be applied to one player, teams like the Lakers and Mavericks cannot get a ton out of it because no one player they would want to use gives them any additional salary flexibility. That means that a subset of teams basically only get a reduced potential luxury tax burden and lose the benefit of a player.
   
   
3. We have no idea whether it would apply to this season’s salary figures or next year’s. Thanks to the unclear duration of the lockout, the potential of losing the entire 2011-12 season totally changes the dynamics of this. Some teams get heavy shifts in one direction or the other based on this, most notably Oklahoma City (their upcoming extensions), New Jersey (space for the 2012 off-season bonanza), and Utah (Mehmet Okur).
   
   
4. There might be salary rollbacks and/or a hard cap that drastically change the landscape. Any amount of shifts in terms of the salary structure change the dynamics of any financial change such as this one. Even a flex cap could lead to some teams making interesting decisions.

There are a few other considerations worth talking about should the rule come into effect:

First, they should not employ the rule where any money the released player makes on another team comes off the burden to their original team. While this makes sense at first blush, it carries a huge negative in that it effectively gives those players free reign to sign wherever they like at the minimum since anything more would unnecessarily harm their new team. Depending on who gets cut, this could lead to an astonishing boon for the Miami Heat and a few other squads, particularly if some teams get aggressive and use the Rule on non-expiring contracts like Al Harrington or Travis Outlaw. Putting less financial strings on the deals could lead to more equitable outcomes for the league since some players could opt for more money likely offered by a less elite team.

Second, the timeline where the Allan Houston Rule can be utilized matters an absolute ton. One amazingly fun potential option is that they allow teams to cut players not on their team when the CBA is signed. This would create the possibility of teams trading players (and picks and money as sweeteners) solely with the intent of them being quickly released. Other than the Zydrunas Illgauskas situations, the other intrigue would be which teams would try to unload extra players and what other teams could try and squeeze out of them for the privilege. Sacramento, Indiana (if it’s for the 2012-13 season), and Oklahoma City could all try and draw in sweetheart deals from other organizations looking to jettison multiple contracts. Beyond that, extending the timeline to somewhere around the trade deadline could see other compelling situations where teams derive a fair amount of benefit from the guy before letting him loose into teams with more solidified rosters and dynamics.

Keeping all that in mind, here are some thoughts on how each team could handle a potential revival of the Allan Houston Rule:

Atlanta Hawks: Their only potential 2012 expiring that fits the bill would be Kirk Hinrich and their long-term contracts do not fit particularly well unless they really soured on Marvin Williams.

Boston Celtics: If the Rule comes in 2011, it seems hard to imagine Boston using it since their only significant contracts are to the Big Three and Rajon Rondo.

Charlotte Bobcats: Having Boris Diaw’s $9 million expiring contract for 2011-12 and Corey Maggette’s 2012-13 expiring gives the Bobcats options even though DeSagana Diop and Matt Carroll are more likely choices since Michael Jordan cannot afford to dump a rotation player for pretty negligible benefits.

Chicago Bulls: As much creative fun as it would be to see what Chicago could do with the cap space currently given to Carlos Boozer, none of the Bulls’ deals have the right combination of duration and price to make them a likely candidate.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Antawn Jamison in 2011-12 and Baron Davis in 2012-13 are perfect candidates regardless of when the lockout is settled. The Cavs would become gigantic players in the 2012 free agent and trade markets if the lockout lasts a full year.

Dallas Mavericks: As discussed at the top, the champs do not derive as strong a benefit on the Allan Houston Rule since there is no chance they get under the cap with even a small string of rules on this general line. The worst contract they have is Brendan Haywood and he will not get cut in a circumstance like this.

Denver Nuggets: Al Harrington’s albatross of a contract provides an interesting test case for this concept, as Denver would get a huge benefit clearing his money but would be paying a truckload to a player not contributing to their team over the next few seasons. Otherwise, their books are pretty clean since seemingly their entire team’s contracts expired this year.

Detroit Pistons: If the lockout takes out a full season, Richard Hamilton becomes an even more likely contender to be added to a contender like Chicago or Miami. I’d consider someone like Ben Gordon, but the cost of cutting him loose would be pretty hefty.

Golden State Warriors: If the new ownership wants to make a bold move, Andris Biedrins could be looking for a new address while the Warriors try to bring in a contributor via trade or free agency. That said, Charlie Bell stands as the most likely cut as long as it happens in 2011-2012.

Houston Rockets: Having nearly the entire team signed for 2+ seasons gives Morey less options here unless ripple effects allow him to move Luis Scola to an interested team at a reduced cost.

Indiana Pacers: Posey anyone? Considering Indy’s roster and salary situation, James Posey stands as one of the most likely Allan Houston candidates in the entire league if it happens in 2011-2012. Should it be delayed a season, Indy would be a compelling team to look at in terms of luring another squad into giving them a guy to waive.

Los Angeles Clippers: Even after the disastrous Baron Davis trade, the Clippers could still use some wiggle room in whatever season the Rule gets applied in. With a relatively small amount committed for 2012-13, the other LA team could have enough space to intrigue one of the elite FA’s in that class, all of whom play positions that complement Eric Gordon and Blake Griffin.

Los Angeles Lakers: As was the case with the Mavericks, the only way the Allen Houston Rule plays a role in Lakerland is if the specter of a hard cap looms over everything. In that case, we could see Luke Walton in another city.

Memphis Grizzlies: Memphis does not have any contracts on the books that make sense here, not that Michael Heisley would use it anyway. 

Miami Heat: Even though it’s damn near impossible, the most intriguing scenario here would be the Big Two replacing Chris Bosh with a free agent Dwight Howard in 2012, using the Allen Houston Rule as the mechanism should Orlando be disinterested in a more traditional sign-and-trade. Absolutely will not happen though, amazing as it would be.

Milwaukee Bucks: With Michael Redd’s beast of burden off the books, it seems unlikely that John Hammond would take anyone off unless this occurs in 2012-13, since Beno Udrih could be used to pull a nice little FA since they do not have a ton committed until the tough decision in 2013 on Brandon Jennings’ extension.

Minnesota Timberwolves: As much as I’d love to use it on Darko “Manna From Heaven” Milicic or Luke Ridnour’s ridiculous deal, it proves hard to justify how Minnesota would use that scale of space beyond what they would have anyway.

New Jersey Nets: Travis Outlaw, like Al Harrington, could provide a really difficult decision here. He is intensely overpaid and the team could certainly use $7 million per season in logistical flexibility yet it is unclear if that possibility is worth losing a rotation player. 

New Orleans Hornets: It seems unlikely that they would need or want to use any flexibility gained from cutting Emeka Okafor (who would be a fantastic addition on the cheap to an elite team if that possibility occurred) and no one else really fits the profile. 

New York Knicks: Ronny Turiaf is the only potential option and he would not give the Knicks any further latitude for 2011 so the Knicks likely will not be able to use the Allan Houston Rule this time around (not that they used it on Allan the first time…). 

Oklahoma City Thunder: The Russell Westbrook situation makes them a little more interesting, though they do not appear to be able to make any waves for 2011 or 2012 even with someone like Nate Robinson making around $4.5 million. That said, they could shuffle some pieces if a team came calling offering picks or rotation players for the opportunity to get further under the cap for 2012.

Orlando Magic: It’s mindblowingly sad that cutting Gilbert Arenas and losing Dwight Howard with no compensation still would not get the Magic meaningfully under the cap in either 2011 or 2012, especially since those moves would lave them with some hearty positional gaps to fill.

Philadelphia 76ers: Elton Brand provides one of the toughest decisions as well as the player with the biggest chance to swing the title chase one direction or another that season. If the Philly brass does not want to roll the dice on Brand, Andres Nocioni would give them some added flexibility for the summer of 2012 depending on how the Thaddeus Young situation plays out. 

Phoenix Suns: Vince Carter already has a buyout and all of their other contributors are either on cheap deals or have too much time remaining to make it worthwhile to cut them loose.

Portland Trailblazers: The Gerald Wallace trade effectively kept the Blazers out of the 2012 sweepstakes (in terms of pure free agency- they can still be hot and heavy in the trade and sign-and-trade scenes) with or without a Greg Oden extension.

Sacramento Kings: They definitely would not cut their worst contract (since John Salmons was just traded there and considered an asset), so the only real possibility is Francisco Garcia and his deal does not look particularly cost-effective for this unless the Maloofs seriously believe they can pull an elite FA in 2012 for whatever city calls them home at that point.

San Antonio Spurs: Considering their current cap situation and the fact that the city would revolt if any of their Big Three got moved in a spot like this one.

Toronto Raptors: Shedding Leandro Barbosa’s $7.6 million final season would help in the short term while a more bold move would be Jose Calderon since his $10.5 million for 2012-13 could actually make Toronto players in the tier two free agency market that season.

Utah Jazz: Enes Kanter’s countryman Mehmet Okur stands as the only real Utah candidate since the rest of their team is either on reasonable deals or long enough terms to not let them get tangled up in this mess.

Washington Wizards: Very few teams could shift harder from the Allan Houston Rule than the Washington Wizards. Taking Rashard Lewis’ $20+ million off the books for the next two seasons would make the Wizards major powers in the free agent market, even though it is worthwhile to note that two of the three best FA’s that summer are PG’s and Washington has John Wall there for the long haul. Either way, having everyone else on cheap contracts would give Washington the ability to capitalize on their space through some combination of free agency and trades regardless of what the new NBA salary cap framework ultimately looks like.