crellis
07-03-2007, 07:37 PM
...To resign Tim Duncan now. While I have no doubt that Tim will resign with the Spurs, why are we even giving other teams even a glimse of hope in prying away our best ever player. I have full faith in our FO to get the job done, and that Tim would not leave, but nothing is done until he puts his signatue on that new contract.
With so little action and so few star quality players on the market this season, a lot of people are getting excited about next year's possible crop opting out of their contracts -- including Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson and Gilbert Arenas.
What this really means: It is becoming less and less likely for major stars to leave as free agents, if only because the disparity of money is so vast between players and for a sign and trade to take place it generally strips the target team of its best players. So that translates into players increasingly taking less money to leave a team or every star staying put.
The reason is obvious and premeditated by the league office. The luxury tax is working. Because any owner that surpasses the threshold must pay double for the players that create that tax, it is chasing teams away from retaining or seeking star quality players on the market. It leaves players on the precipice of stardom like Lewis and Wallace perhaps overpaid a bit as a result ... but the situation is obvious. Carter stayed put in New Jersey for about $15 million a year because nobody else is willing to risk that kind of money on a 30-year-old -- even as exciting as he is. Billups is a point guard with championship experience and a great clutch shooter, but he'll be 31 in September and like Carter, the mileage is beginning to show. So yes, there are other reasons than the cap, the luxury tax and the struggle for so many owners to make money. Nonetheless, the lack of major stars moving in free agency is very real ... just the way commissioner David Stern likes it.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6986202#1
With so little action and so few star quality players on the market this season, a lot of people are getting excited about next year's possible crop opting out of their contracts -- including Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Allen Iverson and Gilbert Arenas.
What this really means: It is becoming less and less likely for major stars to leave as free agents, if only because the disparity of money is so vast between players and for a sign and trade to take place it generally strips the target team of its best players. So that translates into players increasingly taking less money to leave a team or every star staying put.
The reason is obvious and premeditated by the league office. The luxury tax is working. Because any owner that surpasses the threshold must pay double for the players that create that tax, it is chasing teams away from retaining or seeking star quality players on the market. It leaves players on the precipice of stardom like Lewis and Wallace perhaps overpaid a bit as a result ... but the situation is obvious. Carter stayed put in New Jersey for about $15 million a year because nobody else is willing to risk that kind of money on a 30-year-old -- even as exciting as he is. Billups is a point guard with championship experience and a great clutch shooter, but he'll be 31 in September and like Carter, the mileage is beginning to show. So yes, there are other reasons than the cap, the luxury tax and the struggle for so many owners to make money. Nonetheless, the lack of major stars moving in free agency is very real ... just the way commissioner David Stern likes it.
http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6986202#1