NBA: Chris Andersen, Ryan Gomes, Andray Blatche the last victims of the amnesty clause this year

The Denver Nuggets' Chris Andersen, the Los Angeles Clippers' Ryan Gomes, and the Washington Wizards' Andray Blatche have all been designated as their respective teams' targets for the amnesty provision, placing them on special waivers. The amnesty clause is a special provision in the current collective bargaining agreement that allows a team to remove a player from their salary cap, without any luxury tax considerations. The released player then enters a special waiver wire where in only teams that are under the salary cap may enter a bid to secure that player's services, with the highest bid winning. Should no one claim a player waived in this way, he then becomes an unrestricted free agent.

Source: #wizards will amnesty Andray Blatche today. Deadline to make it official is midnight, but announcement expected soon.

— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) July 17, 2012

The Washington Post first reported Blatche's exit from the team, a move that was later confirmed by the Washington Wizards organization, which released a statement quoting general manager Ernie Grunfeld, who said, "Andray did not figure into our future plans, and using the amnesty provision is a mutually beneficial opportunity for us to part ways." Blatche spent his entire career up to this point with the Wizards, averaging 9.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.9 blocks in the six year period. He had career bests of 16.8 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists during the 2010-11 season, but injuries limited him to just 26 games in the previous season. The straight out of high school draftee was slated to make more than $23.2 million over the next three years, and was owed $7.1 million this season. A bit player who got caught in the numbers crunch is reserve forward Ryan Gomes, who parted ways with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Another 11th-hour amnesty manuever: Clippers have released Ryan Gomes to become NBA team No. 15 to use their amnesty clause

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) July 18, 2012

Gomes was the last player to be amnestied before the league's deadline, which allows the Clippers to remove his $4 million salary from their salary cap. The 29-year-old veteran saw action in just 32 games last season, on an average of 13.3 minutes, which saw him produce 2.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 0.5 steals. One team made their move specifically in order to add another player to their roster, and that team was the Denver Nuggets, who waived center Chris "Birdman" Andersen in order to make room for the signing of Anthony Randolph, reports the Denver Post. Andersen was a fan favorite with Denver due to his hustle and energy, but lost his place in the rotation due to younger players. He normed 5.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.44 blocks in 32 games last season with the team, and was slated to make $9.3 million over the next two seasons.

Nuggets signed Wolves free agent forward Anthony Randolph to a three-year deal paying $6 million, source tells Yahoo! Sports.

— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) July 18, 2012

Andersen was cut in order for the Nuggets to sign forward/center Anthony Randolph to a reported three-year contract worth $6 million, says Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports. In five years in the league, the 23-year-old graduate of LSU has career averages of 8.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 17.6 minutes. He was last with the Minnesota Timberwolves franchise, where he normed 10.9 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in the 11 April games, after the injury to All-Star Kevin Love. According to ESPN's Marc Stein, there remains 15 teams who have yet to use their amnesty provision. The next time franchises will be allowed to use this option will be in July next year.  - AMD, GMA News