It's a fair article. I'd like to keep Oden for another 4 or 5 years and see if he can get over his injuries. But not for a max deal. But as we saw with Hedo and other players in recent years, there are always teams out there willing to gamble the entire future of a franchise on a woe begotten contract. I'd like to resign him to about $8 million per year and see how he does.
This issue has been on my mind for awhile ... and really there is no good answer; I believe KP is going to be rolling the dice one way or another no matter what options he goes with. Maybe he ought to be looking to move up in the draft somehow and see if he can get the rights some of these semi-promising big men that are coming out this year -- forward-centers like Ekpe Udoh, Greg Monroe or a true center like Solomon Alabi (especially if Camby takes the money somewhere else).
Just a hunch, but due to his age and still potential upside I think PA will give him a big contract and hope for the best.
I didn't read the article... but can't the Blazers (or another team) offer him a contract loaded with health-related incentives? Give him the opportunity to make $10 mil a year, or more, but only if he plays in at least 60 games that season. $9 mil if he plays 50, $8 mil, if he plays at least 40. And guarantee him $6-7 mil, regardless of how many games he plays. Is there a CBA rule against structuring contracts that way?
You can make games played incentives to make contracts and subsequent years fully guaranteed, but I am not 100% positive you can include salary related bonuses in regard to games played. I am sure StoryTeller knows, though.
And if there is some kind of CBA rule against paying players based on # of games played, maybe the Blazers could structure that based on total points, total blocks, and total rebounds, as kind of a proxy for how many games he plays in.
oof ... that strikes me as an 'unfortunate' plan. All things considered I'd probably just let him go into restricted free agency the following year and roll the dice that no team is going to throw huge money at him (unless they were trying to force the Blazers hand in matching). One of the smartest things the Hawks ever did was letting Josh Smith go restricted and then matching the Grizzlies fair market offer rather outbidding themselves on a player who had been very inconsistent to that point of his career.
I can't remember who it is, but I know there are a couple of players who have incentives tied into their contract for games played ... in fact it might be Camby, if I recall correctly?
according to Larry Coon's CBA FAQ: "An incentive also cannot be based on the player suiting up for a specific number of games." Performance-based incentives are allowed, so maybe the Blazers could set minimum numbers for total rebounds, blocks, and points...?
In this case as long as they are gross numbers and not per game numbers, you'd effectively be creating the 'games played' clause.
Performance incentives can be dangerous in the NBA. With only 5 spots on the floor and usual rotations of 7-8, lots of performance incentives can make players me-first (more than they are already) and cause lots of issues if they dont get the playing time they think they deserve. Imagine how our team chemistry would be if Bayless, Rudy and Webster all need 10ppg for an extra 2mil or something like that.
Oden will have a phalanx of people in his ear, telling him he deserves a contract on par with Roy. It would be suicide for the Blazers to comply. Can you say "trainwreck?"
I am guessing this will be a $9-10m per year for 3 years with a team option for an extra year or two - thus showing Oden that they want him and are willing to pay for it - while giving the flexibility to restructure if it does not work out. I am also willing to bet that he takes it.
My idea is the players only get paid for wins. Take the current salaries, divide them by 41, and pay that amount per win. Go 82-0, double your salary. Go 0-82, you get no pay for the year. You blow a game due to lack of effort? You've cost your teammates more than $1 million. barfo
