AROUND the NBA:

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Two contract-related notes on RFA players that I really don't understand:
1 Watson - The report all along is that DEN really wants him. THEN the contract they offered is reported (The Athletic) to be 5/70M, which computes to be starting at 12M. Wait what? Either my understanding of salaries is way off (which is possible, because the sinking NBA revenues are a MAJOR factor across the NBA and seem to have GMs scared), or he's way less value than we have been led to believe, or they just want him for a year (pushing him to take the 6.5M QO so they can have him for cheap for a year before he walks). If he's only worth 12M, are the contracts of much worse players such as Jovic, Braun, Sharpe, etc going to be way way more problematic and strangling in the future than we have considered? Or is Watson a much worse player than we've been thinking?
2 Duren - He is eligible with DET to get up to a 30% supermax for a player coming off rookie scale. He demanded it. But by all accounts they "only" offered him all of the normal max of 25%, right up front, which matches or exceeds the most any other team could possibly offer (depending on whether they included 5% or 8% raises). I say "only" because I didn't think he was really worth even that, and it seemed too generous to me. Not to him. He didn't like the DET max offer, so he (weirdly) went looking for a more desirable offer from another team (which makes no sense, since it would AT BEST be the same or less money than the Pistons had already offered, and then DET would just match it anyhow). So now he's supposedly threatening to take the QO of only 9.6M (vs the 25% max of 41.2M) so that he can be a FA next summer and sign for no more than the 25% max that he is refusing from DET. What's going on here? Is he just an idiot with counting numbers? It makes no sense.

Whoever Duren's agent is, he won't be going to the HOF, that's for sure. Dude is giving him very bad advice. Duren has taken making 3rd team all-NBA to a new level, especially after making like Whodini in the playoffs.

[michaeltex]

Whoever Duren's agent is, he won't be going to the HOF, that's for sure. Dude is giving him very bad advice. Duren has taken making 3rd team all-NBA to a new level, especially after making like Whodini in the playoffs.

Making any level of All NBA Team has historically been a ticket to a max contract, but Duren's post season disappearance quashed that consideration by everyone but his agent. Who is watching the $$$ float away.

[Mavs2021]

Making any level of All NBA Team has historically been a ticket to a max contract, but Duren's post season disappearance quashed that consideration by everyone but his agent. Who is watching the $$$ float away.

It must be about more than the money.  He simply wants out of Detroit. The Pistons offered him the same money as any other team could in RFA, which is already telling him that Detroit will match all offer sheets. So all the drama can´t be about money alone. 

The one that really needs to fire his agent is Cade Cunningham for not getting a 5th year Dallas release clause player option. 

[Scott41theMavs]

It must be about more than the money.  He simply wants out of Detroit. The Pistons offered him the same money as any other team could in RFA, which is already telling him that Detroit will match all offer sheets. So all the drama can´t be about money alone. 

The one that really needs to fire his agent is Cade Cunningham for not getting a 5th year Dallas release clause player option. 

It's about being outraged that they didn't dignify his All-NBA-qualifying hypermax demands. He couldn't possibly play there now after such a mortal insult! /s

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Brian Windhorst on the Blazers ownership drama and possible relocation: "It's realistic, but it's definitely not a done deal. Tom Dundon is not interested, by his own words, in giving any money for this renovation. And it's a messy one. It's not a good development if you're a Blazers fan. Tom Dundon is not someone to be trifled with. He has no problem being blunt, no problem being unpopular, and has no connection to the city of Portland. It is a recipe for relocation. It's just not something that is going to be very clearly defined right now." Interested by his own words in giving any money for this renovation. And it's a messy one. It's not a good development if you're a

x.com

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Making any level of All NBA Team has historically been a ticket to a max contract, but Duren's post season disappearance quashed that consideration by everyone but his agent. Who is watching the $$$ float away.

That's what I said.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

D'Angelo Russell: Bird can’t fly in cage! // pgUNO_: — D'Angelo Russell played in just 26 gms w/ DAL last season yet still set the single season franchise record for most games w/ 20/5/5 off the bench; tied-2nd for most overall w/ such games in franchise history. — The 19 mpg played was a career-low, but in the 6 gms DLo logged 25+ minutes last season: 21 PPG, 7 APG, 5 RPG 1 SPG, 55% 2P, +65 — Was the only player in the league to avg at least 10 ppg & 4 apg in 19 mpg or less; only the 2nd player to do so in NBA history.

x.com

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Most points in the clutch in the playoffs over the past three years combined: 1. Jalen Brunson: 143 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 84 3. Tyrese Haliburton: 48 4. Anthony Edwards: 43 5. Nikola Jokic: 36 6. Cade Cunningham: 35

bsky.app

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Josh Hart: We got to normalize grown men not counting other people's pockets dank: Draymond Green says Jalen Brunson shouldn't have taken a $100,000,000 discount with the Knicks. “It's the New York Knicks, bro. They can afford it. You ain't got to take no discount for them to get paid. My situation is different because Steph is making $270 million, Klay making $180 million. All right, something got to give. Cool. I can take less. He's the top guy. Let Josh Hart or somebody else take less. They in my role. Guess what, Steph Curry ain't take a penny less. And neither did Klay Thompson ain't take a penny less. I don't know what he's doing. That's $100 million”

x.com

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Trail Blazers owner Tom Dundon “first kicked the tires” on buying a potential NBA expansion franchise in Las Vegas for about $8B but decided the Blazers’ $4.25B price tag was “a better value with more upside,” according to sources cited by sportswriter John Canzano.

Sports Business Journal

[Moviemavguy]

D'Angelo Russell: Bird can’t fly in cage! // pgUNO_: — D'Angelo Russell played in just 26 gms w/ DAL last season yet still set the single season franchise record for most games w/ 20/5/5 off the bench; tied-2nd for most overall w/ such games in franchise history. — The 19 mpg played was a career-low, but in the 6 gms DLo logged 25+ minutes last season: 21 PPG, 7 APG, 5 RPG 1 SPG, 55% 2P, +65 — Was the only player in the league to avg at least 10 ppg & 4 apg in 19 mpg or less; only the 2nd player to do so in NBA history.

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Can't control what the ball do!

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Former Heat guard Josh Richardson (Rook 2) announced his retirement from basketball tonight.

x.com

[HoosierDaddyKid]

No wonder Ice Cube appeared in a pleasant mood before BIG3’s recent games at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center. Ice Cube, otherwise known as O’Shea Jackson Sr., still spoke in a serious tone with me in an arena conference room. Then, Ice Cube declined to bask in BIG3’s accomplishments and proclaim that “today was a good day” as he did in his heralded song. Instead, Ice Cube focused more on BIG3’s upcoming goals. The BIG3 is valued at $290 million after becoming the first publicly traded professional sports league in American history last month by partnering with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (Graf Global Corp.). In 2024, the BIG3 sold four of its eight franchises in Miami, Los Angeles, Detroit and Houston to various ownership groups for $10 million each. BIG3 has also partnered with the Prostate Cancer Foundation this year, which has included facilitating testing signups outside of venues and league-endorsed PSAs. “We want to expand,” Ice Cube told me. “To really unlock what this league can do, we want to have more than eight teams, even more than 12. The traditional way is just to sell teams and grow like that, which is cool. But it makes you make deals that you need to make instead of deals that you should make.”

Forbes.com

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Not sure if everyone is following the latest Kawhi breadcrumbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7yjAxUqmTg&t=1950s

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1v...ote_built/

I think the reason the NBA isn't done is because they probably want to give Balmer a slap on the wrist but Pablo Torre keeps finding new dirt.

[F Gump]

Not sure if everyone is following the latest Kawhi breadcrumbs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7yjAxUqmTg&t=1950s

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1v...ote_built/

I think the reason the NBA isn't done is because they probably want to give Balmer a slap on the wrist but Pablo Torre keeps finding new dirt.

Does any of this new "Breaking News!!!!!" really indicate anything except Kawhi and the people he trusts are in the business world?

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Does any of this new "Breaking News!!!!!" really indicate anything except Kawhi and the people he trusts are in the business world?

WAT

Not sure if you're being obtuse on purpose. Kawhi getting millions of $$$ in assets from businesses with ties to the Clippers/Balmer is kind of the whole point of the impropriety. Being gifted a $28 endorsement contract and not doing any endorsements. Being gifted with equity in a soccer team. Being gifted with potential real estate assets.

[F Gump]

WAT

Not sure if you're being obtuse on purpose.  Kawhi getting millions of $$$ in assets from businesses with ties to the Clippers/Balmer is kind of the whole point of the impropriety.  Being gifted a $28 endorsement contract and not doing any endorsements.  Being gifted with equity in a soccer team.  Being gifted with potential real estate assets.

I'm saying I'm not sure how any of this is different from the way big business generally works.

Having a celebrity name as part of an ownership group doesnt seem odd. Nor does bestowing them with a piece of the pie they are wanting to grow. Nor does a sports entity getting government help for building out or improving facilities. Nor does calling on a rich influential person you know to navigate or help your endeavor, or give you an avenue to talk to someone you want to talk to. 

Those are benefits of celebrity, of being rich, or of having close ties to someone who is influential. 

In fact, the NBA CBA describes things like that as NOT being a big deal. It is  wanting players to be able to use their earnings to do things in business that other wealthy people can do.  And use connections - including owners - to their benefit. 

What did you hear in this new stuff that goes beyond that, and is proof of Ballmer secretly funneling money to Kawhi? I could have missed it from tuning out as it seemed to me they made mountains out of molehills, but I didn't hear anything worth the hype.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Bill Oram: "Early on in Tom Dundon's tenure, the number of people who said to me, Portland has never seen anything like this guy. They are not at all prepared for the way that he is going to operate and the way he negotiates. And I think that has proven true at every step of the way. His mindset and his mentality when it come to negotiating is so firm. I have been told many times he doesn't negotiate; he sets his terms and you either get there, or you don't." "It has become clear what the challenges of operating a team in Portland actually are, given the economic realities and the direction of the market. It is not a city that is growing in terms of population; it is losing businesses. The economics of the team have been really bad. Ticket sales have been way down in past years. They were charging among the lowest prices of the 16 teams in the playoffs. It is a hard place to make money." "In terms of locations, I think that it is more of the body of potential cities than it is any one city. You could talk yourself into a list of seven or eight cities that could be targets, and there is a good reason why each of those would not work. There has been noise about St. Louis lately. I have heard plenty of people say that St. Louis isn't going to be interested in doing the public financing for an arena dance again, given the scars there." "Austin is the one that comes up a lot. And I know that San Antonio is 70 miles away. I am not ignorant to that fact. And I do not think that at face value the Spurs would like to have a team in a sister market. That said, everything is negotiable, and Austin is a robust market that is the economic inverse of Portland. Even though things have slowed slightly in Austin, it has had explosive growth; it has a great sponsorship base and tons of tech money. It would be a huge boon to the NBA."

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