Despite the uncertainty of free agency, its almost a certainty that Chris Paul will become a New York Knick. The time frame of that deal is a little shaky and there are no shortage of detractors and those who believe this deal may happen. Alan Hahn of Newsday believes its an inevitability no matter what. Zach Lowe of SI says there is a gaping loophole that could even get Paul that $100 million deal. Chris Paul’s agent Leon Rose informed the Hornets that he would not sign an extension and wanted to be traded to the New York Knicks as was first reported by Adrian Woj and Marc Spears of Yahoo.
Regardless of how you feel, small market or big, the eventuality of Chris Paul’s determination to come and join his friend Carmelo Anthony in New York makes it a done deal. Will Chris Paul become a Knick? Most likely yes. However, do I think that Paul will be traded to the Knicks this season? No. In fact, I can see teams colluding to keep Paul away from the Knicks as long as humanly possible. Is it out of sheer jealousy? Sure. What else could be the reason to not grant a superstar’s wish? Teams will view this as just the beginning. If the new CBA was to have one guarantee in it, it would be to keep superstars in their small markets but unless you get a player like Kevin Durant who absolutely abhors the spotlight and would rather stay in the low key environs of Oklahoma City or Derrick Rose who’s brilliance is appreciated and is beloved in his hometown of Chicago (a big market), its hard to keep these players who believe they are stars from the big stage. Very few markets can offer these stars that limelight and that kind of opportunity. It doesn’t hurt that one of Paul’s good friends is Carmelo Anthony, a player who faced the same dilemma a season ago and convinced the Knicks to basically strip itself of parts just to get him to NY so he could get his max contract.
The one question I ask is this: if he were so concerned for his friend and he wanted to make sure that Paul would get his fair market value, wouldn’t Anthony have come at the end of last year as a free agent instead? The Knicks only have Chauncey Billups expiring contract and other uninspired players that would not nearly be close enough value for one of the league’s top 15 players. The Knicks would be giving the Hornets a poo poo platter of players, the same raw deal they handed the Hornets. Dell Demps did a pretty good job last year in swinging trades to make New Orleans competitive so don’t expect him to automatically succumb to the pressure of placating his star player, but expect him to explore EVERY possible scenario in which he can get Paul to another team and make him their headache. But who will send him great prospects when they know he WON’T sign with them long term? Demps is going to be stuck in the same predicament that Masa Ujiri was last season: give his superstar the deal he wants and try to get the best possible one from the team he wants to deal with, make a deal with a team and land prospects in hopes that they won’t mind his reluctance to sign a long term deal in whatever spot he lands in, OR hold on stubbornly and hope to dear God that the Hornets make a run which convinces Paul to stay.
Either way, I wouldn’t want to wake up Dell Demps OR Chris Paul this morning.
Speaking of big time free agents making moves, Deron Williams, through his agent of course, has informed the New Jersey Nets that he has no intention of signing an extension midseason with them and will opt out to explore free agency according to the Bergen Record. Williams tried to appease Net fans on twitter by saying: “don’t know why people are tripping just because I’m opting out doesn’t mean that I won’t resign with the Nets! W/new CBA it makes sense!”
And then there’s that. This has to be troubling for the Big Russian and Hov to think that the one superstar they acquired in really shocking fashion, hours after Anthony was traded to the Knicks after they doggedly pursued them, has all but stated his intentions to explore free agency. He’s right, with the new CBA he could resign with the Nets and as explained in Zach Lowe’s article he could get his $100 million max contract from the Nets if he chooses to stay with them by opting out of free agency. In fact, the ball is moreso in the Nets favor. IF they somehow pull off a deal for Dwight Howard and they make a run, both could opt out and resign with the Nets and get their max deals. According to hoopshype.com, they only hav 36 million in committed salaries, 7 of which would almost definitely be freed via the amnesty clause on Travis Outlaw.
The one thing that the owners did not write into the CBA which I’m sure they wish they had is a designated franchise tag which would’ve allowed small market teams to keep their superstars and hold leverage over them. Of course that would add to the whole slavemaster analogy wouldn’t it? I’m not in favor of a franchise tag by itself. I do like how the NFL does it, guaranteeing the player an average of the Top 5 salaries at that position for the player giving him equal value. But the players would ask for that stipulation added in to the franchise tag but that discussion has to be tabled until the next set of labor talks which won’ t be happening for a while. You can’t force these players onto teams that they don’t want to play for and you shouldn’t blame it on small market/big market. If so, Lebron would’ve came here in the summer of 2010 and every big time free agent would either be pining to play for New York or LA. This fact was brought up in twitter and I completely agree: the teams that originally drafted these players have on average six to seven years with these players. If they can’t bring home a championship or don’t ever come close how can you expect a player as uber competitive as some of these guys are to stay and not explore what their options are? Because for six or seven years you had them, and you didn’t know how to complement them with the role players they needed to win championships and now suddenly they are being demonized for leaving? That’s hypocritical and ignoring the real elephant in the room: that team has been unsuccessful. No team should feel entitled to its superstar’s services. Count them lucky for having them for this long. Certain players don’t grow on trees (which is why I’ve been hoping and praying that the Knicks go hard after Dwight Howard rather than Paul, no offense to CP3 fans) but every so often teams with one established star and a bunch of role players can win you a title. All you need is last season’s Mavericks for perspective.
Speaking of which, there seems to be some uncertainty surrounding the amnesty clause. The good folks at ESPN’s TrueHoop blog have concocted a list naming players they feel would be the best play for the amnesty clause for each respective team and given us some information regarding the amnesty clause. A list they update constantly.
As I understand it, the amnesty clause can only be used ONCE during the life of this current CBA and for a player that was on the roster as of July 1st. The point is that this amnesty clause is meant to protect teams from past mistakes, not so they can create future ones and be saved from them too. So whoever you have on your roster that you absolutely want to get rid of from the cap right now, most likely will have to be run off within the next year or two since most contracts don’t run that long. Either way, it will be interesting to see who gets amnestied and who winds up on the free agent market. As for what happens to the player once he’s amnestied? He then gets put up on waivers and teams bid for their services and the team with the highest bid gets him.
The most talked about name in that group of amnesty clause hopefuls is Brandon Roy. Roy is the oftinjured almost superstar who can tantalize you with his potential for being an x-factor and yet destroy you by his x-ray. His knees are basically damaged goods and the idea that he will be healthy for the life of that long term contract is slim to none. I would agree with most people that amnestying Roy immediately would be the dumbest thing that the Blazers can do. The biggest cap hit they will take is only two years down the road. The Blazer fan base, one of the most devoted in the land given that the Blazers are the only professional outfit in the Portland, Oregon area to root for, loves him and still believes he has one more good run in him left. Why not take a chance that his final run on those knees of his will boost that team?
Of course, the team doesn’t have a GM and their owner is a crazy fool ready to sell to the first person who asks so all bets are off when it comes to predicting what the Blazers will do next. Roy is worth a look for the Knicks if he gets amnestied seeing as how he’s owed that huge contract which he will be guaranteed and can take a low salary and sign on to whatever contender he wants. He would be an excellent addition and he offers that clutch scorers role that most teams otherwise lack. I would hate to see him in Los Angeles simply because I believe Kobe has the tools and the gravitas to unleash the beast in a player by riding him, in Miami because other than D-Wade he would be the second clutch option which would be devastatingly convenient for Lebron to further shy away from the spotlight which he desperately wants and Chicago which is looking for ANYBODY to help ease the fast man’s burden for Derrick Rose.
USA Today had an interesting open mike question they posed to its readership: Should networks keep on-air analysts who are possibly taking jobs within the sport they are covering, on air?
Its an interesting question for sure. Consider an on air analyst’s qualifications: he has to have had experience playing in the sport they are going to be covering. So its inevitable that they would look to get back into their field. Networks hire these analysts knowing that they can leave at any time. I would think the objectivness can be compromised if they are trying to get back into the coaching world because they won’t criticize or say anything bad about anyone like Jon Gruden does all day. There are plenty of negatives to having a person on staff that openly admits to pining for another one because it ruins morale and creates an open door policy which I’m sure networks won’t always want to accomodate but look at what happened with Terry Francona. FOX jumped at the opportunity to give Francona, the former manager of the Red Sox who famously choked its division and wild card lead during the final month of the season, an opportunity to sit in a play by play booth during the biggest games of the season while its lead analyst Tim McCarver was out. How many candidates in house could’ve filled that job capably? Plenty. But the ratings spike of Francona promised that viewers would tune in to see if Francona would say anything about his last month in a Red Sox uni and so the gamble was worth it even in the short term. The network television business is funny so there are always hidden agendas but the one motivation is always ratings. The higher the ratings the more they can charge advertisers. Sports IS a business after all.
Too little too late? The Giants will find out this Sunday when they host the unbeaten Green Bay Packers. Ralph Vacciano of the New York Daily News says that the defense is going to try and make a stand for coordinator Perry Fewell who was animated at Thursday’s practice.
So let’s add Perry Fewell to the list of people walking out of Metlife stadium trying to light a fire under the Giants defense. Michael Strahan made a house call this week as well getting into his former linemates to bring the pressure. The biggest disappointing part of last Monday was how soft the Giants looked. The Saints punched them and the Giants just kept taking it. They didn’t do anything to hit back and looked vulnerable on every part of their defense. Their offense showed up somewhat but were not helped by a revolving door defense that escorted Saints into the end zone at times. I don’t care what people say about how prepared they were, if that was prepared, I don’t want to know what unprepared is.
The one thing I will say about this team: it responds to criticism. If ever there was a time to motivate and run the table it would be now. The Packers began their run last year after Thanksgiving and the Giants certainly have the offense, its the defense and their vaunted pass rush that now must respond. If another week of being shut out at the dinner table happens, you can believe some will be trying to eat elsewhere next season. Including the head coach.
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