Why do you think the blazers chose this year to mess around with contract negotiations in the manner they are? You know, back ten years ago, the Rasheed Wallace's, Jermaine Oneal's, Jeff McInnis, Ruben Patterson's, Damon Stoudemire's didn't have to work THIS hard to get a contract signed by Paul Allen. You look up and down this roster and the kind of players he has, if there was ever a model franchise for the league. This would be it. With the type of talent, character is involved. Why do you all feel Paul Allen has decided to complicate the process now, this year, with this group? I personally think it's a negative that LMA was set into the season, in limbo, without a contract signed and not knowing what is going to happen day to day. But it's not just his contract, it was Roy's too. I don't know why, but I have this deep suspician if they bring this same kind of negotiation next year to the table with Oden. In the end, they won't get him signed. I just want to know why Allen has decided to change the way he does business so much with the crew and players he now has on hand. Makes no sense to me. If I wouldn't know better, I would say he does thing purprosely to destroy himself in business. This is just another potential example of it.
The collective bargaining agreement, economy, and NBA profit margins have all changed a lot in the last ten years. Some of that is due to the fact that owners (such as Paul Allen) were just giving anyone and everyone money. It's the reason the Blazers were severely in the red for many years. Getting way over the salary and signing players to large contracts restricts the flexibility of your roster and can cause you to go into a long-term drought.
So you're saying this has nothing to do with the way Paul Allen is running the Portland Trail Blazers now compared to the way he did ten years ago?
No, it's a combination of global factors and Paul Allen getting smarter. I believe Paul Allen wants to break even and more importantly, maintain a flexible roster that would allow the Blazers to stay out of the lottery for 5 straight years.
But at what cost? So far it hasn't cost him anything. That doesn't mean it won't. I would think there would have to be some kind of middle ground in the way he did his business then and how he is doing it now. I think what is convaluting things right now for him is Vulcan. I think Vulcan has really tightened things up and I'm not sure it's needed. I think Paul could break even without the convuluted process Vulcan has.
I think you're seeing the middle ground between what he used to do and how the Donald Sterlings of the world run their teams. If/when Paul Allen is no longer the owner of the Blazers, I think you'll realize how lucky we are to have the "frugal" Paul Allen. It's easy to spend other peoples money. Just curious, how are you contributing to the financial health of the Blazers? I don't mean this as an attack on you.
How many Championships did Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine Oneal, Jeff McInnis, Ruben Patterson and Damon Stoudemire bring the city of Portland? Maybe you need to look at the bigger picture?
He has lost a ton of money since 1999 if I'm not mistaken. That and the state of the economy has to weigh heavily on the situation.
McInnis and Patterson weren't that highly paid. O'Neal didn't start making the really big bucks until he went to Indiana. Sheed was overpaid, but at least he was productive. Damon was the only indefensible deal of that bunch. Now, if you want to talk about Miles and Theo....those were idiotic contracts!
I go to games periodically. I just hope the now frugal Paul Allen does not burn any bridges with the new way of conducting business. LaMarcus can't be happy with the way the negotations are going. Scratch that, we know he is not happy on how the negotations are going. There is a process in place now that wasn't in place ten years ago. Where Paul Allen used to be very willing to put out the money without the process. That has all changed. I think he and Vulcan have complicated the process in negotiating contracts. It's not a matter of Larry Miller having full control. Or Kevin Pritchard having full control. They go through Vulcan and Allen. I thought you hired your presidents and gms to do things like this. I think if it was left up to Miller and Pritchard both Roy and Aldridge would have been a signed a month ago. All this and still managing to break even.
The difference is those players did not have to pull tooth and hair to get a contract done. I'm not sure there was a "process" when those contracts were signed.
But here is the thing. Eventually, the players will get what they want. They just have to go through the process. Eventually, Paul Allen is going to end up spending probably the same amount of money as he would have if he just would have caved in at the beginning of negotaitions. My point is why would you put your players through this kind of hardship when we know what kind of guys they are now compared to what they were like ten years ago? Just take care of them Paul. No need to burn bridges.
And you think that was a good thing? Do you have any evidence that Vulcan is involved in the contract negotiations, or are you just speculating? barfo
in other words you've no idea what you're talking about. I know that sounds harsh, but come on... to understand whether how a business is doing financially you need real access to both sides of the ledger. STOMP
Do I? I can only go buy reports. And yes, I'm sure they are part of the process. We know Tod Leiweke is. Do I think that was a good thing? No. But he spent money very irresponsibly back then with the help of a very irresponsible GM in Bob Whitsitt. Bob had a blank check. But not every president will do business the way Bob did. You hire good people, that know what they are doing to handle the financial part of the business. To make good financial decsions. When you add Vulcan into the mix you complicate things. I don't believe for one moment that Larry Miller and Kevin Pritchard can make a decision on the terms of a contract. They might be an advisor but an ultimate decision maker.
+1000. Paul Allen might be the best owner of professional sports in the world. I don't see how he could be better for the Blazers and the franchise's fans... Ed O.
