MILWAUKEE (WTAQ) - For the second year in a row, the Bucks failed to use their amnesty card.

Tuesday was the deadline to use it, and Bucks’ general manager John Hammond said he never seriously thought about employing it.

The amnesty clause has been in effect for two seasons. It allows a team to waive a player who’s still owed money, and not have that money count against a team’s salary cap or luxury tax status.

The player must still be paid, however. The clause allows teams to take huge contracts off their books, like Philadelphia did when it released Elton Brand without having to include the $18 million he was owed on its salary cap.

It can only be used for contracts in place in the previous collective bargaining agreement that was replaced a year ago. It can be used once in the new agreement.