RaptorRed wrote:Im a little confused ? What does this change ? If you currently can't sign your players to extensions how did the Thunder do it with Westbrook ?
I think this is more geared towards signing an extension with a player at any point during their current contract, given that they meet the criteria (awards/all-star/MVP), so that they don't hit the free agency market.
I think before, the team the current player is on had to wait to a specific date before they can do an extension - I think that would explain when they say "so-and-so is eligible for an extension on [insert date]". So there's a window when the team can do it and I think it's before or during their final year. So you have all the speculation of trading or letting them go, like what happened with Durant.
Now, if the player you want to extend qualifies, you can extend him at the next opportunity, whenever that is (offseason?). For ex, Paul George is signed through (but can opt out) 2019, but they said they can resign him in the 2017 offseason - I don't think you could have resigned him that early before hand.
The criteria make sense because if there weren't any criteria, no player with any promise would ever hit free agency. So teams would just resign over and over. If you look at it this way - a team can keep a player (as long as he wants to stay there) by extending his contract at any point as long as he continues to perform at a high level - so he doesn't leave for FA.
