Official Bynum Contract Talk Thread (Merges Ongoing)

[dockingsched]

http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketbal ... ?track=rss

The Lakers have until Oct. 31 to sign Bynum to a five-year contract extension, though discussions with the team have been "few and not significant," according to Bynum's agent, David Lee. I just don't get it," Lee said. "I do not understand certain things that happen. Andrew has taken everything the Lakers have thrown at him, including criticism. He doesn't do anything to respond other than go on the court. He just goes on with his business." Lee is traveling from New York to meet today with Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak in hopes of working out a deal.

Bynum has said his surgically repaired left knee feels fine. He also said he didn't think too often about his contract situation. "I know that the Lakers take their sweet time doing everybody's deals," he said Thursday. "I'm just going to be patient and keep waiting like I am."

Said Bynum's agent: "It has to get done by the 31st. Otherwise there are, of course, consequences under the collective bargaining agreement." The lack of development in contract negotiations has left Bynum's agent frustrated. "I would say that's a fair assessment," Lee said. "Disappointed would be a better word than frustrated, but we shall see. Maybe it's premature. We will have a conversation [today] and then we'll see where it's going."

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bynu ... sign-agent

Calling the negotiations so far puzzling, Andrew Bynum’s agent will meet with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak on Friday in hopes of securing a maximum contract extension for the young center. Agent David Lee said Thursday he has not had any “serious” conversations with the Lakers since the summer, when Bynum first made known his contract demands. “We are puzzled that they have not reciprocated the loyalty Andrew has shown them,” Lee said.

“I don’t know why they would want to wait until the end of the season because that would be foolish,” Lee said. “There are consequences. They could lose him because he would become a restricted free agent.”

david lee is trevor ariza's agent too right? great.

[LLcoleJ]

They cant lose him though and his tough talk is kind of lame. Its simple... Bynums contract is predicated on how he responds from his injury and grows as a player.

So he cant afford to phone it in this year and or be injured. So, if the Lakers want to take a wait and see approach then its up to Bynum to set his market and any team out there willing to spend big bucks would mean Bynum would get the big bucks from the Lakers. The discussion of his max deal is on the fence anyways.. so if he warrants a big deal from another team in the summer then he does the same from the Lakers.

I think his agent is the one making the mistake -- by puffing his chest out and whining. He has no leverge.

[dockingsched]

yeah, his agent is proving to be quite the annoyance. he sounds like a rookie.

[DEEP3CL]

^ I agree Phil, if David Lee thinks for one second his boastful nature and comments are going to scare Dr.Buss into caving in he has another thing coming. Drew has to erase a couple of things off his list first to even warrant a new deal. One being his over all strength of his knee , two prove that he can play more then 75% of a season, and three prove that he can come close the production out put he displayed at the time of injury. Until then all the cards are in Dr.Buss favor period end of discussion.


I find it weird that in all the years that I've been watching and reading about Laker basketball , that David Lee is the FIRST agent to ever come out and air contract negotiations in public and in a sense degrade the franchise like they're not competent enough to run a team. If I ever see Drew in public I'll tell him his agent sucks. Drew should dump this scum bag as soon as he gets his new deal.

[Kweli]

I find it weird that in all the years that I've been watching and reading about Laker basketball , that David Lee is the FIRST agent to ever come out and air contract negotiations in public and in a sense degrade the franchise like they're not competent enough to run a team. If I ever see Drew in public I'll tell him his agent sucks. Drew should dump this scum bag as soon as he gets his new deal.

Very well said.

And even if I was a player I wouldn't want my agent going around public talking about this all the time either.

[Teen Girl Squad]

Yeah this agent is a complete rook and handling negotiations terribly.

[DubaLakers]

This guy is bitching again? I gave him a pass the first time, what a little punk. Reminds me of an annoying girlfriend you just are completely sick of and she won't stop complaining. It would be great if Bynum fired him, he doesn't even need an agent anyway.

[lakersfanatic]

I think that's the worst an agent can do to their clients when they go public like this. It'll only involve the MEDIA and we all know what the media can do to a story. IE. Look at Kobes' abroad quote... Now you're seeing headlines after headlines of that possibility.

By going public, Lakers can basically offer him anything now. I agree with you guys. Lakers should wait and see how much other teams are offering Bynum. Lakers can always match it and keep him anyways. One good thing is Bynum is not going public and demanding his contract like eh hem Shaq did on Buss... hehe.. we all know how that turned out lol.

[Danny Darko]

step one: Fire Lee
Step two: Hire Rob Pelinka
Step three: Play like you should and win championship
Step four: will take care of itself just fine

[Minhee]

OMB this Guy sounds like a ****, I thought he was just being a typical agent. Now he is just stupid, what a ridiculos thing to say. If Bynum is as good as he is advertised then he will get that max extension, and what consequences? He is a RA next summer and Lakers holds all the cards. This idiot will attempt to make this into a Ben Gordon situation. Teams might just let Bynum take a qualifying and take their chances when he enters into UFA if we can't reach a reasonable deal next summer.

At least Scott Boras is good at being a punk, this guy is an idiot.

[fareweatherfan]

The Lakers will only benefit from waiting it out with Drew. There is no incentive for the Lakers to get the deal done now (i.e. as long as Drew is demanding a max deal). Everyone knows that. Which is why I really can't understand Lee's statements.

[rsavaj]

The Lakers will only benefit from waiting it out with Drew. There is no incentive for the Lakers to get the deal done now (i.e. as long as Drew is demanding a max deal). Everyone knows that. Which is why I really can't understand Lee's statements.

+1. Worst case scenario, he doesn't have a fantastic year and you sign him for cheap next summer. Best case scenario, he has an amazing year and you guys give him the max. Lakers are in a good spot right now.

[Mindflayer]

Someone in the media claimed the Lakers want to sign him for $78 million. If the max is $90 million, Bynum should accept the $78 million or play out the season and hope he's not injured again. We should start a topic on the General Board "Is Bynum worth a max deal?" I highly doubt most non-Laker fans think so. we could email the quotes to his whinny agent.

[TonyMontana]

I agree with Phil and Deep.
This dumish is basically throwing Bynums future and his career on a rollercoaster ride.
Lets see, his approach is very aggressive and wrong, and demanding, and we all know too well
He is trying to get max cont. for a guy that hasnt really had a solid season, and he had a serious injury to his knee, and so far hasnt been impressive at all.
To top it off he has an agent who really doesnt have any idea how to negotiate a deal or a contract.
Buss might have been high on Bynum when he drafted him but we all know the way Buss operates, he doesnt like nor does he allow someone to force him to except anything.
Also why is it that his agent is forcing Bynums contract down the Lakers troat, is there something we dont know that he does?
If you recall Bynums injury took a lot longer than everyone expected, WHY.
Why wasnt he able to make his return before the playoffs or during the playoff, why did he have to get 2 or 3 opinions why was his injury more serious than what was the initial report?
Again I dont like his agent nor do I think that Bynum is worth Max.
Let him walk if he has to, so far we have had a much better success with Pau, and Pau seems to fit our lineup much better than Bynum has and we went to the finals with Pau, where have we gone with Bynum.
Skip him if he thinks he can get max somewhere else then dont let the door hit your ass Mang.

We should start a topic on the General Board "Is Bynum worth a max deal?" I highly doubt most non-Laker fans think so. we could email the quotes to his whinny agent.

Na lets not, we already look like an ass since we have stepped up many times and gave Bynum props and supported him when Kobe wanted to have his ass shipped out long time ago, we really dont need another controversial thread on the general board since we all know how other fans love to hear negative issues and problems about everything that has to do with the Lakers.
Also who cares what other fans think of Bynum we already know they dont like Bynum and most Laker fans have turned Bynum into the second coming of Kareen or Shaq.
Thats just my take on this, then again you can do as you please.

[JimMurray]

Look, here's the situation....

I don't care how pissed off David Lee gets, or Bynum for that matter, the Lakers hold all the leverage. If Phil Jackson is observing Bynum every day and makes comments saying that he's taking steps backwards, they Lakers have absolutely no obligation to give him max anything. Maybe a "Max" sized kick in the a** imploring him to try harder.

If the Lakers don't give him a new deal by Oct 31, then he becomes a "RESTRICTED" free agent at the end of the season. Then we could let someone else set the market for Bynum and we'll have a FULL SEASON of data on what Bynum is all about, and if he's worth it, we'll match the contract. I don't know why David Lee thinks he's entitled to a max deal now when Bynum's given us 20 good games in three years.

Lee can blow smoke, bitch and moan all he wants, we'll gladly take our time. If Bynum is worth it, we're not losing him to anything. Lets say we don't offer him max money, Bynum has an average season this year, becomes restricted, someone offers him a 5 year 60 million dollar offer sheet, we match it....we just saved 25 million for being patient.

In the mean time, we'll continue to bitch slap David Lee with silence and carry on with the business of honestly evaluating Andrew Bynum's true worth.

[TonyMontana]

Look, here's the situation....

I don't care how pissed off David Lee gets, or Bynum for that matter, the Lakers hold all the leverage. If Phil Jackson is observing Bynum every day and makes comments saying that he's taking steps backwards, they Lakers have absolutely no obligation to give him max anything. Maybe a "Max" sized kick in the a** imploring him to try harder.

If the Lakers don't give him a new deal by Oct 31, then he becomes a "RESTRICTED" free agent at the end of the season. Then we could let someone else set the market for Bynum and we'll have a FULL SEASON of data on what Bynum is all about, and if he's worth it, we'll match the contract. I don't know why David Lee thinks he's entitled to a max deal now when Bynum's given us 20 good games in three years.

Lee can blow smoke, bitch and moan all he wants, we'll gladly take our time. If Bynum is worth it, we're not losing him to anything. Lets say we don't offer him max money, Bynum has an average season this year, becomes restricted, someone offers him a 5 year 60 million dollar offer sheet, we match it....we just saved 25 million for being patient.

In the mean time, we'll continue to bitch slap David Lee with silence and carry on with the business of honestly evaluating Andrew Bynum's true worth.

Good Point Mang.

[DEEP3CL]

Lee can blow smoke, bitch and moan all he wants, we'll gladly take our time. If Bynum is worth it, we're not losing him to anything. Lets say we don't offer him max money, Bynum has an average season this year, becomes restricted, someone offers him a 5 year 60 million dollar offer sheet, we match it....we just saved 25 million for being patient.

Right on point JimMurry, cant even add to that is was so to the point.

Let him walk if he has to, so far we have had a much better success with Pau, and Pau seems to fit our lineup much better than Bynum has and we went to the finals with Pau, where have we gone with Bynum.
Skip him if he thinks he can get max somewhere else then dont let the door hit your ass Mang.

Spoken like the true playa you are TonyMontana aka T-Money. Think about everybody Drew hasn't given us his best years so it's not like we KNOW what he's done on a consistent basis anyway. I feel you though Tony...........if he walks he walks so be it. I root for the name on the front and I only bleed with you once I've seen you've pour your heart and soul out for the franchise, like Kobe and D-Fish do and has before. Sorry but Drew has yet to do that.

And not to short change any of our family members but this thread has gotten some responses from some of our most intelligent posters so far, and I know more will come in.

[TonyMontana]

Lee can blow smoke, bitch and moan all he wants, we'll gladly take our time. If Bynum is worth it, we're not losing him to anything. Lets say we don't offer him max money, Bynum has an average season this year, becomes restricted, someone offers him a 5 year 60 million dollar offer sheet, we match it....we just saved 25 million for being patient.

Right on point JimMurry, cant even add to that is was so to the point.

Let him walk if he has to, so far we have had a much better success with Pau, and Pau seems to fit our lineup much better than Bynum has and we went to the finals with Pau, where have we gone with Bynum.
Skip him if he thinks he can get max somewhere else then dont let the door hit your ass Mang.

Spoken like the true playa you are TonyMontana aka T-Money. Think about everybody Drew hasn't given us his best years so it's not like we KNOW what he's done on a consistent basis anyway. I feel you though Tony...........if he walks he walks so be it. I root for the name on the front and I only bleed with you once I've seen you've pour your heart and soul out for the franchise, like Kobe and D-Fish do and has before. Sorry but Drew has yet to do that.

And not to short change any of our family members but this thread has gotten some responses from some of our most intelligent posters so far, and I know more will come in.

Thanks Mang.
Whats funny is this is seriously taking a wierd twist.
If an NBA player a rookie, hasnt dont ish nor has he been active, on or off the bench, then WTH is his agent doing bitching and complaining and asking for a Max deal?
Look even Amare, he was a power house but when he injured his knee, he was already proven, and even then he didnt get Max.
Now we got a kid that was drafted not 1st 2nd 3rd............ but the 10th round draft pick.
Its not like we are talking about lets say Oden gets injured and then he plays for a few months and then he decides to ask for Max, this guy came out of High school and honestly I have never heard of him before we talked about drfting him.
Now K.G, Amare, Shaq, Beasley, Durante etc I did hear of them when they were in high school, Bynum Na....... I never heard of him, maybe its me, or maybe Jim Buss has a crush on Bynum and thats what he's thinking that since Kobe threw Bynum under the bus when he wanted him gone, now he has some balls to come out and ask for Max since he knows Jimmy boy didnt trade him when Kobe wanted him gone, NOW Jimmy will throw the farm at Bynums injured unproven talented ass.
Maybe he will maybe he wont, but as long as Bynum hasnt proven himself then I doubt he will get Max.
Oh and why is he crying about a contract this early in the season?
Bynum isnt dum, see we all blamed Shaz when Shaq wanted an extension in the preseason when our problems with Kobe and Shaq was boiling, but I give credit to Shaq, at least Shaq had the cohonez to go public and talk about his contract extension.
Bynum is playing the I'm a poor little boy who doesnt know about contracts and Im here to play ball, its all up to my agent.
Bynum knows exactly what he's doing, he has his agent running the show as he wants it to be ran, yet WTH doesnt Bynum STH up and play his game and wait till he proves himself or at least give a good half a season that shows he is worthy of a Max extension...........Like I said SKIP HIM if he wants to leave then BE GONE.

[Verbal]

I checked out the second page.

Good call, guys.


I wasn't the biggest Bynum supporter when he was signed, but he's not trash either.

He's got value/potential.


And yeah, Bynum knows what he's doing.

Hopefully, it works out for the Lakers/Laker-fans too.

[DowJones]

Unless he is injured, Bynum will get his max contract. If you guys don't offer it to him then someone else obviously will and you will have to match it.