Reply With Quote
That article is spot on. Don't pay for potential pay for results. Olowakandi had potential one time as well. Don't F-up your franchise being hasty.
Lakers: Don't give Bynum the 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 les 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 le. (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.
That article is spot on. Don't pay for potential pay for results. Olowakandi had potential one time as well. Don't F-up your franchise being hasty.
I don't expect Buss to payout right now. If Bynum has a blockbuster season he's getting all the money he wants.
84-90m he aint worth it....
looks at deng and gordon who didnt get what they think they were worth....
I like him as a player, but man he is a
He's just proved he can run his mouth. He's a in kid.
But with that said, a contract year might work out pretty well for LakeTown. Then he'll lay down. His character is "questionable" to say the least.
Good move by Lakers. I would probably guess there aren't teams next summer that could afford that anyway so it's not like Bynum would likely be able to get that contract next summer from another team, except maybe Memphis and Oklahoma City. Would actually be funny if Memphis would be able to get Bynum next summer. But, don't see that happening. And, if Bynum has a truly breakout season, I'm sure the Lakers won't mind giving him something close to what he wants. No reason to give in right now.
if he has a good year, pay up by all means, but don't get into quicksand on "potential" results
What the Lakers should try to lock in him in right now, 5 years at $50 million. That way both sides take a bit of the risk.
Too bad he probably wouldn't go for it.
Haven't you followed this story at all as a Laker fan? He's been asking for over $80 million over 5 years. There's no way he and his agent go for $50 million over 5 years.
edit: Duncan's head on Lamar Odom's body looks really weird. So does Dwight Howard on what looks like Kobe's body. Difference in skin color makes it funny. I assume Oden's head is on Shaq's body.
Yah, I know he wants $80 million but at this point, it sounds like he won't get it. The Lakers must be offering something much smaller. Not likely he'll take it but it would be a sweet deal for Laker cap space if he did.
Hahah, Duncan does look a bit strange. I didn't take too much time on the sig...matching up the skin colors and such takes much longer to do...I only spent about 30 minutes on the sig. It'd take about 3 hours to do the job right.
I couldn't get by the fact that the dude who wrote this is Ding
Andrew Mother in Bynum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
is not happy
Lakers hold all the cards. Nothing to worry about here for Lakers fans. Just another agent running his mouth.
right move for the lakers, he'll only be a restricted so they'll be able to match if anything.
Bynum dare not put up a temper tantrum....no "pay me motherfcker" crap.
He will get his money, just play up to it.
Saw Bynum against Barcelona and Toronto and I thought he looked good. It's obvious he's a bit out of sync, getting back into shape and playing with another big man, but it looks like it shouldn't be a concern at all and will be a great Lakers frontcourt.
Possible legend? I cant believe what Im hearing about this guy, its not even close.
The Lakers are offering 10mil a year, according to the LA Times. Agent wants max. Hopefully they meet somewhere in the middle, or Bynum's going into this season without a contract.
LINK
We've been talking to Bynum's agent on CL, and he is acting like a total got.
No different than any other agent.
Yeah, but he was extra gay. Saying things like.
You don't dis Kareem in LA.First off all, anyone who says that the Lakers have done anything for him is way off base. In terms of drafting him, yes they drafted him 10th, he could have went higher. At least 3 teams were looking to draft him higher than the Lakers but after he worked out for the Lakers HE cut off all work outs with any other teams. So teams were iffy to draft a player that they hadn't seen work out. Even still Isaiah Thomas has publicly said that if Channing Frye had gone 7th like they had thought he was they were taking Andrew at 8(That's without even a workout.) So for all the people saying the Lakers did him a favor in drafting him 10th as if he would have never been drafted around there, that's far from the truth.
If you want to go further than that, him getting drafted by the Lakers hindered his growth as a player. He plays for a coach who a) you can't find a quote of him saying ONE good thing about the kid and who b)doesn't give rookie's any burn. So whereas he first started and started getting substantial minutes in his 3rd year on a ton of other teams he would have been getting major minutes his rookie year and would have been far more developed at this point than he is now just off of game experience. Also on basically any other team he would have been the focal point of the offense, getting a lot more touches, productivity and numbers. He had the highest field goal percentage in the entire NBA yet the least shots per game out of any of the starters on team. Also people are giving the Lakers credit for his development when 95% of it has been a result of work with his own personal trainer on his payroll rather than any Lakers staff. Let's be serious if he had actually played years one and two and in turn been further ahead in his progression, Max money would not even be a discussion right now.
On the money side of things, I don't think his brother stated he wants ONLY max money, I think he said that the offer of 78 is a falsity and what they are offering is no where near that. The NBA is a business and the way business works is that you're worth WHATEVER someone will pay you. So for those of you that say he hasn't earned it, he hasn't proved himself, if another team would give him max money right now, then he is worth max money.(There are at least 10 teams in this league that would give him a max contract the second they could.) The issue here is that teams usually do right by players that they consider to be the future of the team or their future franchise player and not make them wait until they hit free agency and see another team will give him that much money before they give it to them. Especially when they know for a fact that will be the case. Granted he is coming off of an injury, but you have the top doctors in the world saying he is fine and it was a freak accident.(Also you have this thing called insurance which protects the team from losing that much if he has a career ending injury.) In his current state and regardless of his production this year, there will be a team that will offer him max money, the Lakers know this so basically waiting to pay someone what you know you will factually have to pay as much if not more next year can be insulting. I don't think they are asking for an exactly max deal but a deal that they find as fair, knowing that if he waits till next year he will 100% no if's and's or but's get max money. Most of you are going by what you hear through the media and trust me there is a lot more to stories than just what the media gets their hands on.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
