why do you guys even think that they are gonna spend that capspace? those guys dont wanna spend money at all
That's it La Bomba, stay positive! It's the little victories that count. Congrats on being better than the Lions! You did it!
La Bomba, Exactly what free agent are you going to attract this summer? Anything you offer an unrestricted free agent can be matched by their current team. Any team who has an unrestricted free agent can offer them more money and a longer contract than the Grizz. So, you either end up paying more for someone than their current team thinks they are worth, or you get outbid before you even start. Large markets like NY can attract free agents, like LeBron, becuase the endorsement potential can more than make up for the lower salary he'd get in NY instead of Cleveland. Memphis doesn't have that same big money endorsement potential as NY, LA, Chicago, or even Dallas, Houston, or Miami, etc. Even with all your cap space, will your tighwad owner use it and outbid other owners to land a top free agent? I just don't see it. Heisley is one of the cheapest owners in professional sports. Now he's suddenly going to start outbidding other owners with deeper pockets? Even if he could, I don't think he will. In fact, I actually see the opposite happening. Heisley is the new Donald Sterling and Memphis is a farm team for the rest of the NBA. As soon as Gay and Mayo can, I see them leaving for greener pastures - bigger markets and a chance to win. Unfortunately, in spite of the three year play-off run you had a few seasons back, your team in on pace for their third straight 22-win season (actually, more like 20 wins, or less, with the way they've been playing recently). If that happens, it would be the 11th time in the 14-year history of the team that they've won 28, or fewer games. That's right, they've only won more than 28 games three times in the history of the team. It's not exactly a team people associate with winning, and there are two things players want - money and winning. You have a tightwad owner in a small market and a history of losing. How exactly will that help you attract any free agents worth having? BNM
And Brad Miller. Damn, you think that could have been a good team if they just kept that core together for a bit longer? Miller and Brand compliment each other great as far as bigs go. Artest is a great defender for the other team's best SG/SF. And Crawford is a capable SG (who can play some PG). All they needed was a good PG and boom. Crazy to look back. So what am I saying....nothing about a cake. Kinda sorta.
And I forgot Ron Mercer (Geez what happened to that guy)... check out this team. Talk about young and talented. http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CHI/2001.html
i'm pretty sure that is their roster for the season after the offseason when no major free agents would sign with them. they couldn't get duncan/hill/tmac, so they spent their money on mercer and miller.
Memphis is a pretty small market, but it's no smaller than Portland. We just have the benefit of building brand loyalty over the course of the last several decades. If they field a good team and the ticket prices are right, then people will come to be entertained. I don't go to games ever but I consider myself a pretty strong fan of the team. Who goes to the games? Real fans? People on dates? Little kids? If Memphis wants to build a strong franchise they should start doing more marketing with local youth. Those are the people who in 5-15 years will be getting out of college and have money to spend on tickets. And might get their parents to buy tickets now. At least that's my 2cents. You'd think a team would be more successful in a place like Seattle than Memphis or OKC though.
Okay, well maybe Mercer and Miller weren't studs at the moment, but you have to agree that if they held onto Miller, Crawford, Artest and Brand...that's a pretty potent combination. Add a PG via the MLE and develop the players. They had bird rights to go over the cap if they wanted. The best way to build a team is to do it through the draft. Lots of young talent with potential on relatively small contracts. Nice.
I grew up in Chicago, and enjoyed watching the Bulls' rebuilding process. Was getting excited about the team again, and then the 2000 draft happened. Can't remember the specifics, but I know they wanted Miles, and got mad when he was taken 3rd, so they took fucking Marcus Fizer. Took Crawford 8th overall(what a horrible draft to have 2 top 10 picks). Then, shit got real bad. Had another high pick, and thought about a twin tower pairing, so they traded Brand for Chandler. Drafted Chandler and curry. Mid way through the season traded Artest and Miller for Jalen rose and crap. You're sitting on Miller, Brand, Artest, Mercer, and Crawford. Instead, they got infatuated by MORE youth, and traded away Brand for Chandler. And then thought, screw youth, and traded AWAY Miller and Artest for Rose? What the fuck?!?! Luckily, I moved out to Portland in 2002, and have been a Blazers fan ever since. They're on like attempt #5 or 6 in their rebuilding process, praise KP for not taking us through that shit. Well...
I was pretty interested in the Bulls, I thought their rebuilding was pretty interesting. I must admit, I bought the Curry and Chandler hype (well, not the "next Shaq and Garnett" hype, but that they'd both be excellent big men). But I thought the Fizer pick was awful and didn't much like the Crawford pick. And then their "big free agent splash" was Eddie Robinson. Wow. His nickname (E-Rob) was appropriate, because he stole a lot of money from Chicago.
Yes, there was a very blatant desire to move that team out of Vancouver rather than make smart personnel moves and build a winner. The fans picked up on it and stopped coming to games for the last few years. Not surprisingly, Stu Jackson was a major figure on that team before it moved.
