Haynes full of shit (no Nic 4 years, 46.5 Million) (confirmed)

If they were good, there would have been more of an effort to keep the team there. I still contend if Oden went to Seattle, the city would have rallied to keep him there due to the hype.

 

You really believe Olshey when he says Nicolas always wanted to stay in Portland?

I don't think he was dead set on leaving like it was protrayed by Haynes and Jaynes, but I do believe his first choice was Minnesota.

 

How would the number one pick having MF surgery his rookie year have helped? Unless you think he wouldn't have played DDR if he was there?

EDIT:

And besides, it wasn't up to the fans, it was up to the taxpaying public at large -- who probably weren't big basketball fans -- not wanting to raise their taxes to pay for yet another new arena.

 

Yes.

Not.

Gayed.

 

He was a once in a decade guy coming out of college. Its like getting LeBron james and then wanting to move the franchise? The bandwagon would have been in effect. The effort would have been enough I think, especially even in the legislature to keep them here.

And Seattle probably has better medical staff.

 

I believe he'd have been happy there. I dunno if I'd say that's where he wanted to be. He visited one place and that was it??

But it was clear to me that his agent wanted to get his player some big money. And he did. They got an offer than Minne couldn't offer. His agent said he wasn't even going to talk to Portland, and he didn't allow his player to do so. Nic said how many times during the season, and even right after, that he'd be back. His agent found him good money, got a deal, and Portland took it. I don't really know that we'll ever get Nic's true feelings.

 

He wouldn't have gotten injured if he wasn't drafted by us - it's a Portland thing.

 

All that really matters is how he feels now, and all indications are he's happy to be a Blazer. As Stevenson said, negotiations can be a bitch, but rarely will there be any carry-over once a deal is signed.

 

Chris Haynes ‏@ChrisBHaynes
Year 1 and 2 of Nicolas Batum's salary is $10.7M, year 3 is $10.9M and year 4 is $11.2M. #Blazers

 

We have no evidence either way. Batum's "dream" was not to play in Minnesota. I also don't think Batum would badmouth a former coach ("he stuck me in a corner"), at least not publicly. Probably, Nic is a smart guy and realized, like he said, that Portland would match and that playing somewhere else wasn't really even a possibility. So, I don't think he ever really considered "would I rather play in Minnesota?"

btw: I wanted to point out how lucky he is. If his agent used those same tactics for an unproven player like Nic playing for a team from NY, Nic would be booed mercilessly for at least 10 games.

 

WHAT DOES THAT ADD UP TO?

 

All I said was that Olshey's comments sound like bullshit to me -- Spin to take some of the heat off of Nicolas after this very public negotiation by his agent -- I never meant to imply that Nicolas is unhappy coming back.

 

is the calculator program on your puter broken?

43.5 million.

 

So basically he'll be getting paid 4/43.5 before incentives I assume

If he earns those incentives, good for him

This contract just isn't that bad.

 

so 43.5 mil for for years, still high but better

 

NO I JUST WANTED YOU PWN YOU.

+1

 

Considering I thought a "fair" deal for him in April was 4 years 36 million, it's high, but the difference spread out over 4 years is pretty much neglible when you consider how much dough Paul Allen has blown on buying picks in years past.

 

You think if his agent hadn't acted like a dick to Portland that Minnesota would have only offered their coveted RFA 30-35 million?

I don't think it helped Batum at all. Like, at all.

 

yeah 9 mil per was very fair IMO, 10.875 mil per is high but not ridiculous