BLUFFCITYBEARS.COM: Recent Comments

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

nivek — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:14:50 GMT

Nice insight into the negotiating game.

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

joe — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:46:02 GMT

i don't think rookie deals are ridiculously unfair.
they are guaranteed
despite the fact that the player might be a total worthless bust
incentives for the 20% premium seems fair enough to me

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

Pants — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:12:56 GMT

The idea of what Memphis is doing is good but it is poor in practicality. Clearly when the CBA was written it was assumed that the 20% would be special but according to all reports everyone gets it. The main reason for that is what the above posters have noted, that rookie deals are such a damn good deal for the team. A major plus for everyone is that these deals are rubber stamped and so there are no holdouts. You want to end that and have everyone squabbling over the 20%?

We are 1 year away from a new CBA. Memphis should relent now and dig in come CBA negotiating time. Standardize the bonuses like they've already standardized the contract.

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

Gorditadogg — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:02:23 GMT

As I understand, many rookie contracts have performance requirements for the 20%, but are usually tied to conditioning and personal appearances. Grizzlies can do what they want, but I think they are being unreasonable.

NBA rookie contracts are a bargain compared to NFL and MLB.

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

derek — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:01:20 GMT

A bit verbose. If nothing else, try breaking up your paragraphs.

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

Mario Latilleon — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:18:31 GMT

First things first...

If the rookie deals were not intended to be subject to negotiation, then there would not be a variance in what a first round pick can make. What's the point of having minimum and maximum salary for each slot? As far as rookies being underpaid; I disagree. When first round deals were not subject to a rookie scale, players were overpaid with no dues paid to earn the big deals. Players were paid based on potential. Now with the rookie scale, players are trying to get to their second contract to make the real money in the NBA. Its funny how the amount difference between 100% of scale and 120% of scale is so small that it should not matter to the Grizzlies but it's significant enough for Arm Tellem to go on a crusade about how horrible an organization the Grizzlies are.

You think that the incentives are unobtainable for Xavier Henry? My concern is for the Grizzlies be flexible on the benchmarks for Henry (and Vasquez) so that they would be reasonable for the rookies to achieve. But I agree that that extra 20% should be a bonus that is rewarded for performance.

Since Henry missed Summer League, this contract stalemate does not really matter now. Arm Tellem is trying to shame the Grizzlies into action, but it is a non-issue right now. I just think it's ironic people are acting like this is the end of the world. Arm Tellem wasn't talking about the Grizzlies as a horrible organization when the team was giving his clients the deals he wanted.

The Grizzlies true motives may be suspect, but the principle is correct. Unless a player is a can't miss prospect like Lebron James, Derrick Rose, or Carmelo Anthony, I think it's reasonable not to guarantee that last 20% without great performance on the court. If Henry did not get the $300k next year, he won't be broken.

If the rookies have a problem with the rookie scale, they need to protect future rookies by fighting to abolish the rookie scale in the new CBA. So even if the deal is great for the NBA franchises (so I guess the big second contracts are horrible for the franchises), just being able to pay more than the allotted amount for draft number does not mean teams should do it just because.

Now if the Grizzlies only offered 100% of the salary, with no ability to get the premium, I would have a problem.

I want Arm Tellem to tell us who that one player out of four hundred & fifty who got less than 120% of his rookie scaled salary and tell us who his agent was. When an agent is telling you unbelievable stories such as that, then maybe he's blowing more BS up your behind.

If Henry was signed tomorrow, what does it really mean for the team? Is he coming to Memphis to hang out at the Stax Academy until training camp starts a month and a half from now?

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

Peter — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:02:58 GMT

Joshua is 100% right. Rookie contracts are already rediculously unfair, linking them to performance incentives makes them even moreso. They are already playing for waaaay less than market value... how is demanding they play for even less a good thing?

Comment on The Audacity of Earning

Joshua — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:54:32 GMT

Are you kidding me? The Grizzlies are in every way in the wrong here! The most valuable contracts in all of sports are the rookie scale contracts. We're talking about a meager figures here (in basketball terms) for contracts that on average produce more wins per dollar spent than any others in basketball. And Tellem is the bad guy? First, the bonuses are not tied to reasonable achievements. First team all-rookie? That has as much to do with how many minutes the Grizzlies decide to allocate to Henry and how well he performs on the court. Tying the achievements to summer league, or rookie conditioning programs is totally understandable. Telling a 12th pick to make first-team all-rookie is not.

What you don't understand is that the rookie contract (even with the extra 20%) ALWAYS favors the team. In a free market, Xavier (and every other professional rookie) would be receiving contracts far more lucrative but are held back by the rookie salary scale. That extra 20% simply makes it a little more fair to the rookies that may at best have ten years in the league.

How can you say that this is fair? Ironically, in the end the Grizzlies are only hurting themselves. They are squabbling over 600k on a contract that already significantly favors the team. You think people are going to be willing to work with the Grizzlies in the future if this is the way they treat their players and agents?

Comment on Counting the Duckets Before They Are Cashed

Chip — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:34:10 GMT

I couldn't agree more. Why does it always seem the fans of Memphis are searching for something to be unhappy about instead of being grateful for what they have? Memphis wasn't a major league city nine years ago and now that the team is looking to make a serious push to the playoffs people can only see the negatives. It is truly sad.

Comment on Bluff City Bears Episode 1

Earl Hardaway — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:59:02 GMT

Good first episode Mario. Even though I think 'Sheem will be more valuable than Brewer this season.