Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency doesn't look good for keeping Batum: http://www.csnnw.com/pages/landingb...lshey-not-contac=1&blockID=732842&feedID=5212
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency I don't see anything new here. Other than his agent is an even bigger ass than I thought. But at the end of the day it still comes down to money and how much Nic is offered by other teams. We match or we don't. It will be interesting to see how creative other teams get. I am a little irrated with Nic though that he isn't man enough to tell his agent to shut the fuck up.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency He can be pissed or pop a tude but it doesn't matter. It all comes down to whether we want to keep him or not. He's an RFA, we have first right of refusal, and it's pretty obvious that the Blazers want to keep him.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency They're french, what do you expect. :MARIS61: If we keep Batum, we'll be overpaying for sure.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency What pisses me off is that it seems like they're going out of their way to fuck us over.... like.... maybe he'll sign an offer sheet as soon as they can. How fucked up would it be if Batum signed an offer sheet with another team ten or fifteen minutes before we signed an offer sheet with someone like Eric Gordon or Hibbert? Would that stop us from signing someone? Do you have to have the cap space at the time of the offer sheet, or do you have to have the cap space after the 3 days are up?
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency need to have the cap space after the 3 days are up. Otherwise it owuld open a huge loophole
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Paul needs to make his agent disappear.... he has former Navy SEALs working for him. If the guy took an unplanned vacation for a few weeks, that would definitely slow down negotiations with other teams, right?
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency If batum gets an offer and immediately signs it, I.say fuck him if.guys like eric gordon would sign an offer sheet. Especially if its north of 10 million
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Identify the long-term core: PG: Lillard SG SF: Batum* PF: Aldridge C: Leonard It makes sense to go all out for Eric Gordon. Great creative (massive front-loaded deal?) with the new CBA. It means adios to Batum but if you have to choose between the two it's a no-brainer.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency I wonder if it would be better to say: "We have no intentions on matching any offer for Nic. We have decided to go in another direction with our FA money" Then match any offer. If teams think we have no intentions on matching would they offer him less? Or would see right through it? Normally i would not recommend this, but since his agent is being a prick about it.....
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Yeah, it's obvious to me that he and/or his agent are trying to fuck us over intentionally if he signs immediately. Basically that would limit our options to only UFA players and we would have to close in the 3 day period. Not fun.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency we also have to remember we have the 10 day moratorium on signing. So he can negotiate, and have an offer sheet, and at that time, we can say hey, we plan on matching, so don't sign right away, or no, we won't go that high.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Saying you will match is more of a deterrent IMO. Teams don't want their cap room tied up while teams mull their right to match. However, I'm sure the Blazers will end up overpaying a little because frankly the free agent crop is weak and some team will almost certainly take the chance at getting him because of the weakness of the group.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Or his agent could fuck us for free and sign at 12:01 AM on the first day in hopes that we don't match
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency His agent is doing a great job for him though ... and I don't mean that sarcastically. He's about to get paid
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency God I hate potential.... the NBA should have brackets with a minimum/maximum you can be paid and you have to achieve certain stats to reach those brackets...
