<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Citing the recently signed contract of Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant, Ray Allen has told the Seattle SuperSonics he wants a contract extension worth $100 million over five seasons, according to sources. In early August, Bryant, after visiting several teams, signed a contract with the Lakers worth $136 million over six seasons. Allen's reasoning, according to sources, is that while he may not be as good as Bryant, he still is an All-Star and is not worth considerably less, a fact bolstered by the virtually one-on-one shootout Allen and Bryant had Jan. 2, a game that Allen ultimately won for the Sonics in the final seconds when he split two defenders for a scoop shot, his 35th point. Bryant scored 32 points in that game, overshadowing Gary Payton's return to Seattle. The Sonics are believed to be offering close to $70 million over five seasons, with a starting salary of around $11 million.</div> <div align="center">Full Story</div>
Wow, poor Ray will be sadly disappointed. The Sonics offer seems fair. Ray is a great player, but doesn't not deserve Kobe, Garnett, Shaq, Duncan money. Strange how the article comared him to Dampier's contract, which starts at about $8M, while the Sonics are offering $11M. So we are comparing a top five shooting guard to a top ten center? I just don't see the relevance.
I wouldn't be surprised if Ray is unofficially on the way out of Seattle after this. Just ridiculous.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Casual:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't be surprised if Ray is unofficially on the way out of Seattle after this. Just ridiculous.</div> i completely agree. ray allen is nuts for demanding this much money. in my opinion that type of money is uneeded just seems like bragging rights to me.
There are more than likely alternative reasons for Allens, demand. The offer the Sonics have put forth is more than fair and the reason that Allen gave as justification for his demand, based on a one game comparison, no less is ludicrous. Pa-lease.... He wants out of Seattle and this is his means of finally forcing the issue, IMO.
Come on guys, Seattle is overpaying all of their big men why not overpay their best player? Besides, how many sgs are there better than Ray? Kobe Tmac and some would say AI Ray certainly deserves this money as he is the future of the team.
It's fun to play GM. Rashard Lewis is only a little overpaid. Potapinko, Jerome James and Allen are all free agents after this year. They'll have a huge amount of cap space available without those guys. The trick is talking a good free agent into signing with a team that's not a playoff team and has lost it's best player. Sometimes you are right about overpaying your best player, but usually you want to do that when you have a complement of supporting players around him. This doesn't appear to be the case in Seattle. Giving Allen $20M will really limit any potential free agent signings next year. It's a very tough decision for Seattle. If it were me, I'd try to get two young players and a draft pick for him, try to sign a middle of the road free agent next year, and try to compete in a few years.
Allen is good, but what has he done to deserve such a large paycheck? He's not one of the top ten players in the league and he has never carried a team to victory more than two or three times in a row. I'd rather not have a peaked 28 year old with a developing chronic knee injury and bad ankles be the future of the Sonics.
I say let him go if he wants so much players that are much better than Ray in certain areas of the game if not in there over all game make less. With the developement of Flip Murry they really dont need allen let him go or trade him before the trade deadline and trust murry like the bucks did redd.
"According to sources". Sources? What sources? Would Ray tell a media person about this? Unless the Sonics GM or someone part of the Sonics management team or a representative comes out and denies he will give him this much money, I don't buy this. The Sonics off-season has been quiet, they want to stir up something. So why not just go after the star, right? Allen might want out of Seattle so the media is bringing all of these stories to try to drive him out of Seattle or frustrate him further. That's the territory that comes along with the fame. IMO, Allen (even if this was true) is not worth 100 million dollars. I don't see how this writer can compare him to Kobe based on one-game. This pretty much looks like the writer wants to dismantle his image.
Ray doesnt deserve that kind of money, he's a good player and all but no one in the league should be making that kind of money other than KG/Duncan/Shaq/Kobe/T-Mac those 5 are pretty much the only people in the league that are worthy of that money because they are franchise players, Ray deserves around 8/9 million a year.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Jurassic:</div><div class="quote_post">Come on guys, Seattle is overpaying all of their big men why not overpay their best player? Besides, how many sgs are there better than Ray? Kobe Tmac and some would say AI Ray certainly deserves this money as he is the future of the team.</div> Firstly, Both McGrady and Bryant are matchwinners, gamebreakers so to speak. They can completely take over games, put up huge numbers and draw throusands of fans. For starters, the shooting guard role is not generally a role to build a team around, and the fall off after Kobe and T-Mac is pretty big. Secondly, Ray Allen is not the future of this team. He is 28 and has below 100% knees and ankles. Guys like Robert Swift, Nick Collison, Ron Murray, Luke Ridnour - they are the future of this team. Ray Allen is our marquee player and leading light, but he is by no means the future of this team. He would be big a loss, but I'd rather lose him than pay him 100m.
I hate to see it come down to this but the Sonics cant give in and let Ray steal 100 million dollars. That money could be spent in much better ways that would help this franchise build for the future, which it seems is what the front office is trying to do.
maybe its a ploy by allen to get traded without asking to be traded LOL sonics reject his contract demand and threaten to ship him out...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Shard:</div><div class="quote_post">I hate to see it come down to this but the Sonics cant give in and let Ray steal 100 million dollars. That money could be spent in much better ways that would help this franchise build for the future, which it seems is what the front office is trying to do.</div> You are spot on here. The team needs to make a stand, stand their ground. Offer Ray what they believe is a fair contract, and tell him he can accept it, or risk being traded or being let go when his deal expires. My only concern is how many teams would want to pay him 100 million? Makes it tough to strike a deal if another team knows what he's going to demand.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The negotiations to extend Ray Allen's contract with the Sonics began last month but have not progressed to proposals from either side, according to multiple sources. That disputes a report yesterday that stated Allen was seeking $100 million over the 5-year extension and the Sonics were offering $70 million. There may end up being a gap, but defining particulars is premature since neither side has made a proposal, according to the sources. Sonics general manager Rick Sund is on vacation and unavailable for comment, and Allen was not available for comment yesterday as his fianc?e, Shannon, has just given birth to their first child, a boy. Both sides have agreed not to discuss the negotiations, which started with a meeting last month. That meeting was believed to be mostly a philosophical discussion about the team and Allen's role. It did not include dollars-and-cents debate of what the team would be paid. The sides likely will have another meeting before negotiating financial particulars or submitting proposals.</div> <font size="1">Full Story courtesy of Danny O'Neil and the Seattle PI.</font> Now, I've been chatting to someone about this, and he has a pretty good theory regarding this whole story. He thinks that the above article is true, however Ray's management got someone to leak the $100 million rumour to the press in an effort to gauge the public reaction to such a deal, which has obviously not been in favour of Allen. Very interesting indeed, it makes a lot of sense.
Ray Allen probably doesn't expect to get $100 million, he is just negiotiating. He knows he's worth a lot, and by setting a high amount early in the contract talks, he may end up with a bit more for himself. The Sonics would hate to have to let him go because they can't afford him, and Ray knows that. So he will try to get every last dollar, by slowly letting the contract negotiations get smaller until the Sonics can accept. The Sonics need him more than he needs them, and he knows it and will use it to his advantage.
Ray Allen Ray Allen=$100,000,000? The Seattle Supersonics have been in discussions with Ray Allen about a contract extension that would keep him in Seattle long term. Reports from the region say Ray Allen is looking for a $100 million extension, and fans around the league were appalled at Ray?s ?demands?. First Ray didn?t ?demand? $100 million, in fact it was his agent that set that as the number, and based on what was paid out this summer, $100 million for Ray Allen is market value. http://www.hoopsworld.com/article_9614.shtml
