duncan228
10-18-2008, 11:37 AM
Lakers: Don't give Bynum the money (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bynum-lakers-year-2198238-extension-money)
Ding column: The kid hasn't earned it yet.
Kevin Ding
EL SEGUNDO- Andrew Bynum doesn’t deserve it.
He is the absolute key to the Lakers’ defense becoming great this season. He will in all likelihood join the eminent centers to bring the Lakers championship glory (the franchise has only won titles with George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Shaquille O’Neal).
He is going to be an All-Star in this league very soon and possibly a legend in this game forever.
None of those lofty future considerations matter right now. In no way has Bynum earned the maximum-allowable contract extension he is seeking.
Bynum’s agent, David Lee, is pushing for a max-value extension similar to those signed recently by Chris Paul, the NBA MVP runner-up, and Deron Williams, an All-NBA second-teamer. Except Lee actually wants an even greater financial commitment to Bynum in the form of a fifth contract year that Paul and Williams declined so they could retain flexibility down the line.
Even with justifiably massive projections for Bynum, not yet 21, it’s insane to ask the Lakers to pay what is truly top dollar for what right now remains mere potential – and maybe injury-prone potential, at that.
Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut – the No. 1 overall pick ahead of Williams, Paul and Bynum – is the other high-profile player from the 2005 draft to get an extension. Bogut does not have the monster upside that Bynum has, but Bogut did play a little better (and was healthy throughout) last season. Add up the per-game averages for points, rebounds, assists and blocks last season and Bogut comes in at 28.5 to Bynum’s 27.1.
Bogut signed a five-year extension worth $60 million in guaranteed money. Bynum wants a five-year extension worth $84-90 million of guaranteed money.
It’s crazy talk. (The guaranteed dollar amount for a maximum extension beginning next season can only be estimated, because the exact numbers can’t be specified until next summer’s salary cap is determined by league revenues.)
If Bynum’s agent holds to this max plan, odds are that Bynum will not be extended by the Oct. 31 deadline and will enter restricted free agency next summer. That might well be the only way for Bynum to get his max deal anyway – after he has a huge and healthy season and helps the Lakers win a title. (The Lakers need not really fear losing Bynum in that scenario, as they can offer Bynum next summer more money than any other club as their holdover player – or match any other offer Bynum gets and keep him anyway.)
But with respect to current negotiations toward an extension, the Lakers would be foolish to give in. They are fully aware – despite their public proclamations that Bynum’s career shouldn’t be affected by his latest knee injury – that there are greater risks with him than other players.
Bynum needed surgery on his right knee as a pre-teen. He had an injury to that knee as a high-school senior that was bad enough to be misdiagnosed initially as a torn ACL. Then he hurt his left knee last season, not meeting projections to return for the playoffs and eventually requiring surgery.
Lakers trainer Gary Vitti, in explaining the complexity of Bynum’s injury a few days after it occurred, confirmed Bynum’s predisposition to certain knee injuries. Said Vitti: “He has a wide pelvis and is knock-kneed. It makes him prone to this type of thing.”
That unto itself is reason for the Lakers to lean toward bonuses in a contract rather than all guaranteed money. Bogut’s deal, for example, includes another $12.5 million in performance incentives, so if he is an All-Star-level player, he’ll be paid like one. There are also a myriad of sweeteners – signing bonus up to 20 percent, trade kicker up to 15 percent, front-loading the contract, etc. – that the Lakers could use in negotiations to make Bynum’s extension better without increasing the base value.
But unless Bynum considers himself a major injury risk, too, the best thing for him is not a five-year deal anyway. Paul and Williams – and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade before them – figured out the best format: a three-year base deal and then a player option before the fourth year.
That means leverage in the club’s decisions after three years and a safety net in case the team has become a dead-end loser. It also means more money after three years, barring that disastrous injury, via a new contract that pays 5 percent more upon having become a seven-year NBA veteran. (Seven-year vets can make 30 percent of the salary cap compared to 25 percent for anyone with less experience.)
Bynum hardly seems to be the money-hungry sort of fellow, so perhaps his camp will come to grips with reality by month’s end. If the Lakers change course and come around to a max offer, however, you’ll know they took the easy way out and are just playing for today.
Sure, it’d be nice to have Bynum locked up and therefore happy as the team sets out on this season’s journey. And if the net difference over five years is just $10 million or so, you could argue that kind of money gets wasted all the time (case in point: Vladimir Radmanovic is getting $30 million over five years).
Don’t count on the Lakers folding like that, though. As glad as they are to have all that looks so great in Bynum – size and tools, plus a work ethic that has become truly admirable – the Lakers know that they deserve to see some greatness before paying for it.
Ding column: The kid hasn't earned it yet.
Kevin Ding
EL SEGUNDO- Andrew Bynum doesn’t deserve it.
He is the absolute key to the Lakers’ defense becoming great this season. He will in all likelihood join the eminent centers to bring the Lakers championship glory (the franchise has only won titles with George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Shaquille O’Neal).
He is going to be an All-Star in this league very soon and possibly a legend in this game forever.
None of those lofty future considerations matter right now. In no way has Bynum earned the maximum-allowable contract extension he is seeking.
Bynum’s agent, David Lee, is pushing for a max-value extension similar to those signed recently by Chris Paul, the NBA MVP runner-up, and Deron Williams, an All-NBA second-teamer. Except Lee actually wants an even greater financial commitment to Bynum in the form of a fifth contract year that Paul and Williams declined so they could retain flexibility down the line.
Even with justifiably massive projections for Bynum, not yet 21, it’s insane to ask the Lakers to pay what is truly top dollar for what right now remains mere potential – and maybe injury-prone potential, at that.
Milwaukee center Andrew Bogut – the No. 1 overall pick ahead of Williams, Paul and Bynum – is the other high-profile player from the 2005 draft to get an extension. Bogut does not have the monster upside that Bynum has, but Bogut did play a little better (and was healthy throughout) last season. Add up the per-game averages for points, rebounds, assists and blocks last season and Bogut comes in at 28.5 to Bynum’s 27.1.
Bogut signed a five-year extension worth $60 million in guaranteed money. Bynum wants a five-year extension worth $84-90 million of guaranteed money.
It’s crazy talk. (The guaranteed dollar amount for a maximum extension beginning next season can only be estimated, because the exact numbers can’t be specified until next summer’s salary cap is determined by league revenues.)
If Bynum’s agent holds to this max plan, odds are that Bynum will not be extended by the Oct. 31 deadline and will enter restricted free agency next summer. That might well be the only way for Bynum to get his max deal anyway – after he has a huge and healthy season and helps the Lakers win a title. (The Lakers need not really fear losing Bynum in that scenario, as they can offer Bynum next summer more money than any other club as their holdover player – or match any other offer Bynum gets and keep him anyway.)
But with respect to current negotiations toward an extension, the Lakers would be foolish to give in. They are fully aware – despite their public proclamations that Bynum’s career shouldn’t be affected by his latest knee injury – that there are greater risks with him than other players.
Bynum needed surgery on his right knee as a pre-teen. He had an injury to that knee as a high-school senior that was bad enough to be misdiagnosed initially as a torn ACL. Then he hurt his left knee last season, not meeting projections to return for the playoffs and eventually requiring surgery.
Lakers trainer Gary Vitti, in explaining the complexity of Bynum’s injury a few days after it occurred, confirmed Bynum’s predisposition to certain knee injuries. Said Vitti: “He has a wide pelvis and is knock-kneed. It makes him prone to this type of thing.”
That unto itself is reason for the Lakers to lean toward bonuses in a contract rather than all guaranteed money. Bogut’s deal, for example, includes another $12.5 million in performance incentives, so if he is an All-Star-level player, he’ll be paid like one. There are also a myriad of sweeteners – signing bonus up to 20 percent, trade kicker up to 15 percent, front-loading the contract, etc. – that the Lakers could use in negotiations to make Bynum’s extension better without increasing the base value.
But unless Bynum considers himself a major injury risk, too, the best thing for him is not a five-year deal anyway. Paul and Williams – and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade before them – figured out the best format: a three-year base deal and then a player option before the fourth year.
That means leverage in the club’s decisions after three years and a safety net in case the team has become a dead-end loser. It also means more money after three years, barring that disastrous injury, via a new contract that pays 5 percent more upon having become a seven-year NBA veteran. (Seven-year vets can make 30 percent of the salary cap compared to 25 percent for anyone with less experience.)
Bynum hardly seems to be the money-hungry sort of fellow, so perhaps his camp will come to grips with reality by month’s end. If the Lakers change course and come around to a max offer, however, you’ll know they took the easy way out and are just playing for today.
Sure, it’d be nice to have Bynum locked up and therefore happy as the team sets out on this season’s journey. And if the net difference over five years is just $10 million or so, you could argue that kind of money gets wasted all the time (case in point: Vladimir Radmanovic is getting $30 million over five years).
Don’t count on the Lakers folding like that, though. As glad as they are to have all that looks so great in Bynum – size and tools, plus a work ethic that has become truly admirable – the Lakers know that they deserve to see some greatness before paying for it.