"Gilbert Arenas might be entering his final weeks as a member of the Orlando Magic.

As my colleague Brian Schmitz wrote over the weekend, and as the Orlando Sentinel and other publications have speculated for months, an amnesty clause in a new collective bargaining agreement could prompt the Magic to cut Arenas loose.

Let's take a closer look as to why the Magic might be compelled to release the former All-Star guard.

In three words: luxury tax savings.

According to an ESPN.com report, NBA franchise owners might be willing to give up a hard salary cap in a new deal if a so-called "supertax" is created instead.

A supertax essentially would take the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax system from the recently expired CBA and make that tax much more punitive.

A team would have to pay $2 in luxury tax for every dollar over $70 million in payroll, $3 for every dollar over $75 million in payroll and $4 for every dollar above $80 million in payroll.

Of course, it's not set in stone that a supertax would be structured like this. "