RealGM

Is it a real concern that some restricted FA (Weems) have already signed European contracts for the year, no matter what?
I think there may be no resolution until Nov. at the earliest, meaning maybe a 40-50- game Reg. Season.

Not looking good!

I've already come to the conclusion that many NBA players will play in Europe next season. Especially those players who haven't made much in their careers.

I think it's going to take a few bigger name players to make a move before thinks start to look very critical with the players headed to Europe. Right now, the biggest obviously is Deron Williams, which was a shock. Players like Pachulia, Weems, Krstic, etc. are decent role/rotation players, but wouldn't be missed that much (by the league as a whole) if they were away for a year or so. If higher caliber players start heading over, then concern is definitely going to increase. Players such as Kobe, Parker, Artest, etc. have made mentions of going to Europe, and those are the type of players that we need to be concerned with.

Players are securing their insurance for their international play, but still run the risk of getting seriously injured and having their NBA team void their contracts. That is where the risk is not worth it imo. What happens if a player ruptures an Achilles? He could be screwed. His NBA contract could be voided and his earning potential would diminish.

For awhile, I've felt that we're going to miss games. I have assumed that we'd get at least 50 in a similar manner to that of the '98 lockout. We very well could go a whole season without basketball and I don't even want to think about that. It would do more harm than good for the league imo. The league has been riding a nice wave the past couple of seasons with higher ratings and a renewed general interest in the NBA. It would be a shame for the league to have to build that up again. For us, it sucks that we'd lose a year on players like Griffin and Gordon who are on rookie deals.

I'd like to see Griffin join Deron Williams at Besiktas. Thats my team, I grew up going to their soccer and basketball games in Istanbul. I was super excited when I heard about Deron going there.
I would fly there as often as I can to watch them

Sounds like more and more guys are considering playing in Europe and other international countries. I hope this gets the owners attention so the lockout can be ended sooner.