Free Agency Thread -David West to Spurs for free

[Bernman]

Yeah, they could be lying just as easy. Both sides could be lying. Each had motive. No real way of knowing at that point outside of being in the room or having audio. Nothing was in writing.

[GrandAdmiralDan]

Surely a law suit of some description comes out of this. Either Mavs against Clippers or between Jordan and his agent.

Sure it is comical, but it looks terrible from a business perspective. DJ is meant to be a professional.

Nothing illegal happened. No breech of contract. A severe breech of etiquette is what happened here. No law suit possible under terms of CBA. Anything verbally agreed to during the moratorium is specifically classified as NOT a binding verbal agreement, but rather "negotiation"

Once the moratorium is over, verbal agreements are classified as binding, for salary cap hit purposes.

[GrandAdmiralDan]

I see many people freaking out now and claiming they should get rid of the moratorium and just allow people to sign right away.
That is definitely NOT possible. The whole point of the moratorium is to allow for proper accounting and calculation of Basketball Related Income, the salary cap, the average salary, the luxury tax, etc.

They could maybe shorten the moratorium by a day, maybe two, but this isn't something they can really rush much more than they currently are.

The only alteration they could make, and probably should make, is to disallow ANY negotiation with free agents during the moratorium. That is the sensible solution. We already make people wait until midnight eastern July 1st to start negotiations. There is no reason we can't make people wait until midnight eastern July 9th (or 8th or 7th) to begin negotiations without the prohibition of actually signing contracts. That would be better. I actually expect this change to be made. This DeAndre Jordan situation ruffled too many feathers and received way too much attention, especially in the Twitter age we live in.

P.S. Extreme level of entertainment on Twitter surrounding this situation today. Definitely a silver lining

[Triple 7]

The only alteration they could make, and probably should make, is to disallow ANY negotiation with free agents during the moratorium. That is the sensible solution.

They're already considering a change of the rules regarding fouling players who can't shoot free throws. What is it about DeAndre Jordan that makes the changing the rules look like a good decision?

Maybe he just needs to be better at playing the game and and also be better at controlling his life.

I'm not arguing with you, I'm just dumbfounded by this whole situation.

[GrandAdmiralDan]

They're already considering a change of the rules regarding fouling players who can't shoot free throws. What is it about DeAndre Jordan that makes the changing the rules look like a good decision?

Maybe he just needs to be better at playing the game and and also be better at controlling his life.

I hadn't even thought of that.

But regardless, the moratorium issue has been a powder keg for a long time. At least 10 years. A handful of players have already done what DeAndre is doing (with far less of a circus), but they have all been low-tier or mid-tier free agents. What it was going to take to truly ignite that powder keg was a max salary level FA doing it. And that's what happened here.

[birlik54]

The thing that is so messed up about this whole thing is just how screwed Dallas is now. They basically operated an entire FA period under the assumption that they would get one of the highest regarded players on a max deal. He's effectively torched any chance they had at having a decent season.

And it's so unbelievably cowardly that he couldn't even pick up the phone to tell Cuban himself. He just hid in his house protected by his friends.

If they're going to have this sort of moratorium then there should be some kind of recourse for teams when players back out on verbal agreements. Or just dump the system altogether.

[randy84]

I think it is good strategy to screw a rival. I hope Jabari commits to playing for the Bulls and then changes his mind, screwing up their FA.

[vital_signs]

Honestly I wouldn't be mad at all if Silver rigged next year's lottery for Dallas. After this bull**** I really hope they get Simmons.

Because someone didn't want to play for them in the end? That's business. If I get offered a job verbally, I dont have it. It has to be on paper. I think the whole situation is hilarious. Plus, it's Mark Cuban

Edit- you can flip it to where you have two job offers and accept one first but have a change of heart, are you gonna stay at the first one just because you gave them your word? I'd do what I want and what is best for me. All day

[Badgerlander]

Holiday signs a 2 year deal with the Hawks, nice cheap replacement for DeMarre

[Badgerlander]

[AussieBuck]

The thing that is so messed up about this whole thing is just how screwed Dallas is now. They basically operated an entire FA period under the assumption that they would get one of the highest regarded players on a max deal. He's effectively torched any chance they had at having a decent season.

And it's so unbelievably cowardly that he couldn't even pick up the phone to tell Cuban himself. He just hid in his house protected by his friends.

If they're going to have this sort of moratorium then there should be some kind of recourse for teams when players back out on verbal agreements. Or just dump the system altogether.

Cuban gets one free kick at Jordan's groin at the first Dallas home matchup they have. He's allowed to swing as hard as he can as long as he stays balanced on his step ladder.

[nmeurett]

Gerald Green signed with the Heat on a 1 year deal. Would have likes to see him as out backup SF.

[AussieBuck]

I think it is good strategy to screw a rival. I hope Jabari commits to playing for the Bulls and then changes his mind, screwing up their FA.

This would be so good.

[SkilesTheLimit]

The rules need to be changed.

This will become a trend moving forward as the "DeAndre rules" where you verbally commit to a rival team, make them sit on their hands for the moratorium period, then choose a different team. It would promote collusion and the integrity of FA would be compromised.

For those of you who disagree, what if this happened with Monroe? He verbally agrees to a max deal with us, we have our hands tied in making other moves, and he chooses to go back to DET? Inter-divisional team and DET would knowingly be screwing us with FA.

[Badgerlander]

the rules dont need to be changed, just need to steer clear of Fegan

[Ron Swanson]

Like others have said, nothing really illegal in what Jordan did, but it certainly doesn't reflect well on his character. His own agent is probably the bigger loser in all of this, because I'd have to imagine teams are now going to be wary of negotiating with Fegan's clients based on the precedent that's been set.

Sucks for the Mavs, but I don't really know how you can "fix" something like this. You can reduce the moratorium by a couple days but it's not like that would stop these kinds of things from happening in the future.

[emunney]

**** happens. Sports gonna sports. I like the way the moratorium allows teams to get their ducks aligned and I think dropping it as a negotiating period would create more difficulties than it would prevent. Why not just formalize what's already being done and make those agreements more binding?

[MikeIsGood]

The thing that is so messed up about this whole thing is just how screwed Dallas is now. They basically operated an entire FA period under the assumption that they would get one of the highest regarded players on a max deal. He's effectively torched any chance they had at having a decent season.

Granted, as I've said numerous times, I don't think Dallas was going to be any good anyway...but that said, I agree that this has totally screwed them. They would have approached FA much differently had he not committed.

[Cold Crush 24]

Luke Ridnour is a free agent! We should sign him. Then trade him asap.

[Badgerlander]

Chris Broussard ‏@Chris_Broussard 11h11 hours ago
CORRECTION: Sources: Cuban beside himself. Driving around downtown HOUSTON begging (thru texts) Jordan's family 4 address to DeAndre's home

Mark Cuban‏@mcuban
.@Chris_Broussard that's is the dumbest **** Ive ever heard. If you had any ethics u would msg me and I will give u his address