The annual salary is the figure used. Not cash owed.
I believe you, but that makes no sense....I mean, if that's the case, then any team could just pay a chunk of an outgoing players contract so the team he's being sent to doesn't have to pay it.
Players salaries have to be paid in certain ways.
The best offer a player can get is to have is to have part of their salary paid as a signing on bonus (max of 20-25% I think) which in terms of the cap is then split evenly throughout the contract. So the cap charge is higher than the salary paid.
Then the players can be paid at different intervals. I think the max payout allowed is half -- the player gets their salary paid in full over two payments at certain intervals in the season. Not certain, but I think one happens in the offseason and the other sometime around mid-season.Anyway, that's my rough knowledge of the contracts. The contracts can't be paid in full but there are ways (those two) of having different cap vs cash figures.
Edit: Part in red = not sure I'm remembering this right -- The signing on bonus can be a maximum of 20%. Not 25%.