11/21/24
July 10, 2008
Branded.: A Postmortem. The Scenarios. Kevin Arnovitz (of Clipperblog) recaps Elton Brand's defection and what it means to Clipper fans.
posted by lilnemo to basketball at 04:03 PM - 6 comments
It just goes to show that bottom line, these guys are in it for the money... The Clippers made a move to make themselves playoff contenders by brining in Davis... I feel sorry for Davis because he probably signed a multi-year deal and will now be there without the support of Brand... You know when you get up in the 60 to 70 million range does 3 or 4 million mean that much? Most of us will never know...
posted by bruce2ww at 07:34 AM on July 11, 2008
It just goes to show that bottom line, these guys are in it for the money... And? Isn't everyone? Business is business and no one should be surprised about that. The best player goes to the highest bidders and that so happened to be the Sixers this time around. I feel sorry for Davis because he probably signed a multi-year deal and will now be there without the support of Brand I feel sorry for people that don't have enough to eat or have a roof over their heads not some guy that's going to make over $100 million dollars for playing the city that he grew up in. Plus, I'm not sure if he signed the contract yet. Can he still back out?
posted by BornIcon at 08:23 AM on July 11, 2008
It just goes to show that bottom line, these guys are in it for the money As opposed to the Clippers' owner, who's willing to spend whatever it takes to win.
posted by yerfatma at 09:29 AM on July 11, 2008
As opposed to the Clippers' owner, who's willing to spend whatever it takes to win. Point well taken. And yet, in a move that mystifies even the Grinch, Sterling took a wrench to his pocketbook. I don't know what did it. Was it the constant ribbing? The losing? Did someone convince him (finally) that fielding a competitive team could be profitable? Whatever the reason, Sterling has showed a willingness to pay over the last 7 years. Lost in all this is the fact that Sterling loved Brand & Maggette. He's never had this kind of connection with any player on any of his previous teams. There's absolutely no reason at all for Sterling to have allowed this to happen. Which is why I'm inclined to believe the Clippers front office. And believe me that is not a sentence I ever thought I would hear come out of my mouth. But even if the front office was its usual bungling self, we had Baron in the bag and the promise of Brand on the way. Which is vexing, and pretty much the crux of the main link:
Clippers fans, by their nature, can stomach a great deal of indignity. But either circumstance -- cold-blooded betrayal or woeful neglect -- is something not even Clippers fans are truly equipped to deal with.
posted by lilnemo at 02:59 PM on July 11, 2008
Isn't Elgin Baylor regarded as a piss-poor GM? I'll buy that. I wasn't trying to lay this at the feet of Sterling, it's just that, like George Will, in sports, I'm a Marxist. The idea revenue is more happily placed in the pocket of an owner than a player drives me nuts.
posted by yerfatma at 04:19 PM on July 11, 2008
That is terrible. I don't buy Falk's argument that he thought $70 million was the offer. Negotiations don't work like that. It sounds like Falk got mad about Dunleavy talking directly to Brand and froze them out after that. It's really a shame because it really looked like they were putting a good team together. I wonder what Baron Davis things about this?