While Michael Jordan may mouth kind words about Richard Hamilton's future with the Wizards, and Hamilton may have performed well on the court, the combination of the team's rebuilding strategy and the league's salary cap rules may force Hamilton out of Jordan's blueprint.

Since Jordan took over Washington's front office, Hamilton appeared to be a key component to the Wizards' future. Jordan would use Hamilton's scoring ability as a base, and add pieces around him to construct a winner.

The other stated component in the team's rebuilding strategy has been to create cap space in 2003, which would allow the team to sign an elite free agent. A close examination of the league's Collective Bargaining Agreement and the Wizards salary structure reveals that the Wizards will likely be forced to choose between Hamilton and a free agent. This reality is what led Leon Rose, Hamilton's agent, to request a contract extension this summer, rather than waiting.

Both the Wizards and Rose declined repeated requests for comment.

Contrary to what I have reported in the past, Hamilton will not count for the $3.6 million qualifying offer next offseason. Instead, the CBA specifies that a Bird rights free agent coming off his rookie contract and earning less than the league average should have a cap figure of either the qualifying offer or 300 percent of his previous year's salary ? whichever is larger.

The Bird exception permits teams to exceed the salary cap to sign their own free agents. A player earns Bird rights by not being waived or changing teams as a free agent for three years. A player can be traded and still retain his Bird rights.

Under these provisions, Hamilton will count for slightly more than $8 million next offseason. The Wizards can reclaim all of that $8 million by renouncing him, which would almost certainly mean he'd sign with another team. On the other hand, they can reduce that cap hit by doing what Hamilton wants ? sign him to a reasonable extension now. Anything he takes less than $8 million is a cap savings and increases the available cap room.

But, if the Wizards are serious about trying to acquire a maximum salary free agent, they're likely going to have to show Hamilton the door. No matter how they massage the numbers, the Wizards cannot afford to offer a maximum salary contract if they re-sign Hamilton to anything close to market value. If they renounce him, it terminates his Bird rights and the team cannot exceed the salary cap to re-sign him. The Wizards won't be able to use an exception to re-sign Hamilton, because by going under the salary cap they lose all their cap exceptions.

It's worth noting that two contracts are instrumental in creating this dilemma with Hamilton -- those given to Larry Hughes and Christian Laettner. Had the Wizards not agreed to these deals, they would likely have had enough cap room to sign a maximum salary free agent, and re-sign Hamilton to a new deal.

Other possibilities remain. If Hamilton has a great season, the Wizards could decide that he's the guy they want, and they could re-sign him. That would effectively terminate any chance at acquiring a top free agent.

Or, they could find takers for Jahidi White, Christian Laettner and Hubert Davis. None of the three are part of the team's core, all have multi-year contracts, and all are expendable. Finding a taker may be difficult, however. The time to make such a move would be now, when the team could still take back a contract that ends after next season.

Trading them next summer won't open cap room because the Wizards would have to take back salaries. Technically, it's possible for the Wizards to trade one of those players to a team with enough cap room to absorb the player's salary, but it's unlikely that any team would swap their cap room for any of those three.

There are other CBA nuances that could result in Hamilton returning to the Wizards. The Wizards could renounce him to sign a restricted free agent to an offer sheet, then withdraw the renouncement if the other team matches the offer. That would restore Hamilton's Bird rights. The only catch is that the offer sheet has to be with a restricted free agent (possible restricted free agents include Elton Brand and Andre Miller). The same provisions don't apply to unrestricted free agents.

Looking at this objectively, the most likely scenario is that Hamilton will be playing his last season with the Wizards. The acquisitions of Larry Hughes and Juan Dixon make even more sense in this light, and Hamilton's cap numbers are too great to allow the Wizards the maneuvering room they want.

For Hamilton and the Wizards, the coming season represents something of a gamble. If the Wizards opt not to give him an extension this summer, they're betting that Hamilton will either become an elite scorer, or that they can find someone better in free agency next offseason.

Hamilton is being forced to wager on his playing ability. If he plays great, and doesn't re-injure his groin, he'll get paid somewhere ? maybe even in Washington. If not, then he may be looking for another team next offseason.

Don Jones, Jon Hamm and Jason Rosenthal contributed to this report.