12/21/24
March 01, 2005
The year of the un-trade?: Gary Payton might do it and Alan Henderson already has. How do trades get made with no intention of the players reporting or with them being released by the team they get traded to only to go back to the team that traded them? See also Dale Davis, Glenn Robinson.
posted by geekyguy to basketball at 11:03 PM - 13 comments
It's getting really ridiculous. The most valuable players at trading time are players worth less than they're being paid. Clearing cap space has worked for some teams (like Phoenix), but moves by some other teams appear to make no sense at all.
posted by dusted at 11:37 PM on March 01, 2005
There have to be a zillion former NCAA members playing overseas who look at Yogi Stewart and think, "Hell, I could dress nice on the sidelines and get traded twice a year."
posted by yerfatma at 06:33 AM on March 02, 2005
These sorts of deals fall in a pair of categories -- the "I'm taking one for the team" deal and the "Screw you, I'm not showing up" deal. It appears the Payton, Henderson and Davis deals fall under the first heading, and it shows just how screwed up the NBA's salary cap really is. It makes a mockery of the league when I hear analysts saying Glenn Robinson (GLENN ROBINSON!!!) is a coveted guy because of his expiring contract. I'd also like to nominate Alonzo Mourning and the Toronto Raptors as my honorary Rick James Co-Bitches of the Week. Mourning f***ed over the Raptors in the Vince Carter deal, walking away from his contract and complaning about injuries. Mourning could have actually been useful to the Raptors, who were looking for a mentor for young center Chris Bosh. But why would Alonzo want to be honored by that thought and pass his knowledge on to anther player when he could whine his way out of the deal? Toronto was stupid enough to oblige Alonzo with a buyout of $10MUS, which is a pretty good payday for basically saying you won't honor your contract. Raptor GM Rob Babcock said all the right things about Mourning's health at the time, which has now miraculously reversed enough for Alonzo to sign with the Miami Heat. Screw you, Alonzo, for going back on a contract ... and screw you, Toronto, for letting him get away with it.
posted by wfrazerjr at 07:42 AM on March 02, 2005
I'm generally pretty harsh on weaseling out of the contract, but you have to cut Alonzo some slack, in that he wants to win a title before his kidney gives out completely. It's not quite the same as Payton weaseling out so that he can engage in a stirring battle to reach .500 with the Celts. [That said, what was Toronto thinking? How did they end up paying him a dime for that buyout? It should have been free to them...]
posted by tieguy at 08:11 AM on March 02, 2005
This seems to be an afliction particular to basketball that everyone seems to just accept - it's maddening. I can appreciate the relationahip between the cap space and trades - but the whole trading for a player who never has any intention of showing up, or trading someone only to take him back a few months down the road is getting a little much. It is to the point where a Yogi Stewart, or Alan Henderson, or any of these other guys that are paid millions but do not play are valuable BECAUSE they are paid millions and do not play. Simply necessary ingredients in trades. It smacks of ridiculousness.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:14 AM on March 02, 2005
Gary Bettman: You've got it all wrong. A salary cap is the answer to every question ever posed in relation to a professional sports league and its finances.
posted by garfield at 09:17 AM on March 02, 2005
How did they end up paying him a dime for that buyout? It should have been free to them... Well, he could have spent the next 2 years claiming to be injured and collect the full amount. When the Raptors realized he would not play for them, it was in their best interest to save as much as then can by not paying him. As for the trades, it's entirely possible that some of these teams don't want the players they recieve. In the case of Henderson and Davis, the teams that got them got younger players they wanted and just needed a body to make the salaries similar. They could either let them sit on the bench all season or let them play for someone else; it seems to be a bit of goodwill on their behalf.
posted by dfleming at 10:59 AM on March 02, 2005
How did they end up paying him a dime for that buyout? It should have been free to them... Well, he could have spent the next 2 years claiming to be injured and collect the full amount. When the Raptors realized he would not play for them, it was in their best interest to save as much as then can by not paying him. You're right. I keep forgetting that the NBA's super-ultra-guaranteed contracts are the dumbest things any sports owners anywhere have ever agreed to, encouraging all kinds of dumb behavior on the part of players.
posted by tieguy at 01:17 PM on March 02, 2005
100% agreement, tieguy. I'm all for making sure players get the money they deserve, but this is one area where I think the NFL has it right. It's jarring to see a player get cut after one bad season (Jeff Garcia, for example), but it keeps the players honest. It would also keep dead weight like Allan Houston, Dikembe Mutombo and Anfernee Hardaway from the top of the pay scale, and off the annual trade rumor lists.
posted by dusted at 02:27 PM on March 02, 2005
The MLB oops i mean NBA i can't tell the difference anymore players are playing every where these days and changing jerseys in press conferences saying the same old line 'I'm glad that (insert team) were able to get me here and i think that (insert players name) and (insert team name) will be exciting to watch'. Same old thing each time, I'm over it whatever happened to staying and playign for your team it just stupid, the last image i will have Karl Malone is him struggling to run up and down the floor in Yellow, not purpule of the Utah Jazz, Laker Yellow thats not an image i want, I want to remember Purple pick and rolls. Its goten stupid players moving and shifting because they are un happy and demand a trade, play for the team your dealt for, I can see it now Okafor won't stay at the Bobcats and Lebron if he don't get a championship in 3 yrs well he will certainly not be a Cav. Come on guys whatever happen to being a (insert team) for LIFE.
posted by bballcoachreid at 03:09 PM on March 02, 2005
Come on guys whatever happen to being a (insert team) for LIFE. That's unrealistic. How many people work for the same company their whole career anymore? Actually, removing the guarantees from contracts would probably INCREASE player movement, because it would get rid of the untradeable (sp?) contract.
posted by dusted at 03:29 PM on March 02, 2005
Come on guys whatever happen to being a (insert team) for LIFE. There is no major professional sport within which this exists anymore in big numbers. It's time to get over this idea because it won't exist again. Embrace change; several cities might have the opportunity to watch LeBron play his home games over his career. I think that would be entirely good for the game.
posted by dfleming at 06:42 AM on March 03, 2005
That's bizarre. I assume it's salary cap tomfoolery, but if you have to include a guy in a trade for monetary balance, how can you make room to sign him again a few days later, as the Mavericks did with Alan Henderson? One of the things I dislike about the salary cap in basketball is that it leads to everyone but the top players on a team getting traded all the time. As soon as you get to like one of the second-tier stars or role players on a team, he's gone.