Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency In fact if he doesn't want to come back to Ptd, that is what he should do.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency I disagree. They drafted rivers and im not sure the new owner wants to match a max deal for gordon right now. Makes more sense for them to go the okc method imo and continue to suck while giving rivers and davis the ball. They could resign him, but id be leery that they would for a max deal
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency And that's exactly my fear. His agent sounds like a dick, and he is probably poisoning the well and telling Nic that we don't deserve him and that we had our chance to extend him.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency they have more cap space than we do I believe, only 5 guys on contract. they could probably go after Batum AND Gordon.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency How is his agent getting him more money than another agent would that isn't pissing off a fan base? Nic will get paid regardless. But agents who pull this shit don't care about the animosity it could create for the player. I will use Rudy as an example. The more his agent popped off the less forgiving the fans were if he did not play well. Nic will get his money either way, but if I were a player I would tell my agent to tone it down a little bit.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Yeah I know that, I just am unsure of a new owner wanting to max gordon when he got rivers and davis. Tough to say, I think we will find out. It makes too much sense for us to sign him to an offer sheet
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Sounds like a legit concern. Although reading the agent statements, he makes it sound like it is all about money. If I were the Blazers I would get the message out that Blazers plan to match whatever offer in hopes of turning teams off about making an offer.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency I have no fear regarding Batum. If he wants to be here, he will be here. If he doesn't, he will sign right away with another team and then he can go fuck himself.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Yeah... that's pretty much how I feel. The guy hasn't done nearly enough to warrant this much fuss.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency All of this will be forgotten by week two of training camp. Only the most diehard fans actually pay attention to the behind the scenes negotiations that go hand-in-hand with free agency. Rudy's biggest problem was not producing and then publicly crying his way out of town.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency I don't think Batum or his agent are being assholes. NBA teams treat this like a business and it's perfectly acceptable for players and their agents to treat it like a business. Fans who follow negotiations always take the team's side because none of the money affects them, so they have nothing to lose from the players getting terrible deals and it improves the team they watch. From a rational standpoint, though, Batum and his agent should be doing what's best for their interests. As nik says, the vast majority of fans don't care about negotiations, so it really has no downside in terms of public perception. Nor should it. There's no reason why management should get a free pass to play hardball (that's just good business, that's why they're rich!) but players should be vilified for playing hardball (ungrateful asshole...there's more to life than being a money-grubbing mercenary).
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency I think the issue is, players frequently leave cities because "teams" aren't doing enough to put players around certain pillars to win, and then they up and leave. When we go to you and say hey, we want you, but we want to add more pieces to contend, I would BELIEVE that Nic would think highly upon that. Not say "Fuck you, I'm signing at 12:01 on the dot - I'm getting my pay, screw trying to win". I have no problem with Batum saying, hey I'll hold off for X amount of time so you can piece a decent team together. Or hey, this is what I'm getting offered. If you don't intend to match, I'm signing right now. If you do intend to match, I'll hold off a couple of days. In the end, its truly best for HIM to wait - because if we miss out on free agents? Guess what? We suck again, and he won't be happy going 22-60. He is getting his payday no matter what.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency Batum is upset because he did not think the Blazers had his best interest at heart when they decided not to extend him during the season. Most players want a guarenteed contract as soon as possible but Blazers wanted to hold off. (what if Batum had torn an ACL during the 2nd half of the season) Now they continue to want Batum to work around their timeline and the agent is in a position to say we will do what is best for Batum irregardless of the Blazers situation. It is exactly what the Blazers did with Batum during the season . . . made a decision that was best for the Blazers irregardless of what was best for Batum. I agree with mistrel, this is a multi-billion dollar business and both sides should be approaching this in a business like manner. If Batum wants to stay with Ptd then it makes business sense for him to wait. If what he wants is the biggest contract, then waiting on the Blazers isn't really a consideration.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency OJ Mayo to be an unrestricted FA after Memphis declines to tender a qualifying offer. Memphis has appeared so ready to part with Mayo for so long. Yet, they could never really manage to separate. Looks like it's finally happening.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency That's an incredible amount of horse shit, though. Duncan is a free agent, he is trying to fuck the Spurs because they didn't extend him during the season. Or KG, or Roy Hibbert. Batum and his agent were asking an extraordinary amount and the Blazers (at that point) declined. However; this is a NEW GM, and not allowing him to speak with Batum is somewhat silly, is it not? They have no clue what Olshey has to say, and by straight up saying "Don't talk to him" is more of a dick move than being a "hardliner", yes? It would be different if it was the same management, but its not. And its completely different, as we still have his rights. He can determine (almost solely, by what he does with his contract) if he plays for a average middling young team next year, or one that can continue to improve. If he wants to be stuck here for the next 5 years, sucking dick, so be it. If he wants to put us in a place to win, he'd wait. Hell, DeAndre Jordan waited last year so that the Clipps could make some extra signings, and that was a contract NO one expected him to get... This is less about Batum and more about the agent. Telling Olshey to fuck off despite the fact that he played no part in previous negotiations is fairly poor character - but I do agree if Batum wants to be here, like he says, he will adjust to meet our timeline as well as his. It is poor to sign a contract out of spite, because that really wouldn't be his BEST interest. The agent is saying its in his best interest, until its matched, and he's stuck in the lotto every year.
Re: Now what? i.e. Free Agency This would make zero sense according to Olshey himself. Olshey has said he doesn't want to spend his money on modest upgrades
