Ballah wrote:Why are you?
Oh look everyone, it's another outsider coming on to the Nets board to set us straight and tell us why something will/will not happen.
This is news no matter what anyone says.
It is significant that both Bynum and Howard's agents came out to set the record straight regarding both players involved in the matter.
Bynum does not have a list of places that he'd like to go to nor has his agent been approached about whether Bynum would accept an extension for a team he would be traded to.
D12 takes it a step further citing that he will not be signing an extension no matter which team he goes to.
Now, why is this significant for either player?
Two examples from this offseason can show why:
Deron WilliamsDespite our optimism, D-Will was close to going to DAL. If it had not been for several seemingly reckless, but (in the end) worthwhile re-signings of Lopez and Wallace and a trade for JJ, D-Will would have been a Maverick.
Despite D-Will saying that he had the utmost confidence in BK's ability to acquire talent, he forced King to show it and prove it all the way to the last minute.
I for one actually believe Deron when he said that he really didn't care about a 5th year from the Nets, because that would mean he would be largely thinking about protecting financially protecting himself in the event of a career-ending injury and he said that he did not want to think like that. He kept re-iterating that his decision was a basketball decision.
I honestly believe that LBJ's decision ushered us into a new era of mentality of the NBA superstar.
They want to win at all costs even if it means losing out on money.
LBJ, Wade, and Bosh all sacrificed money to play together. In the history of the NBA, very few players sacrificed any (even if a little) money when making their decisions to play someplace.
Now, D-Will was on the verge of sacrificing money for the sake of putting himself in a position where he felt like he could win now and in the future.
These superstars are now playing out the life of their contracts and are prioritizing winning over money.
D12 almost canned Fegan because Fegan was trying to make sure that Dwight made his own decision when his contract was finished, but because Dwight let outsiders influence his decision making, he opted in and all hell has broken loose for all parties involved.
He's got a second chance to make a decision at the end of this season and you can basically guarantee that unless Dwight isn't really healthy when he hits free agency, he will make a basketball decision and go to where he thinks he can win.
2) Steve NashWho were the main suitors for Nash's services this offseason?
We all thought it was TOR and PHX because they had the cap space, as well as NYK if Nash wanted the full MLE to play on a team that was better than TOR/PHX.
Little did we know that the Lakers, a taxpaying team better than all aforementioned teams, would put in the winning bid by actually giving the Suns something that no one else thought to offer: draft picks for rebuilding.
While I know that there's a very high chance those draft picks won't pan out to any superstar player, at least the Suns received SOMETHING for Steve Nash.
In this case, Nash got to play for a team he wanted to play for and the Suns got something that they valued in return.
Even though the CBA will limit tax teams from S&T'ing for players, what this means is that if you want another teams star player, cap space isn't the only way to acquire them.
We've already seen both Cleveland and Toronto do this when they lost their star players, Denver and Utah did this prior to FA beginning for Melo and D-Will, PHX has done it, and the question is whether ORL will do it as well.
If you have a sense that your star is going to leave anyway, why not get something valuable in return and make another team worry about re-signing the player?
It may sound homerish because I'm a Nets fan but it makes the most sense for ORL to wait until January to consider trading Dwight and it's not just because that's when the Nets can re-join.
In January, teams will be most desperate to make a splash and ramp up for the postseason. Right now, teams are worried that Dwight can't even walk, so the asking price is low. If ORL waits until January, Dwight can build his value up again, Bynum can show whether he can maintain being healthy for more than a season, Lopez can prove that he's healthy enough to play, MarShon can show whether he is actually improving, etc.
Why trade for Cleveland's pick now when Cleveland could acquire Bynum and make other trades that would improve their record and make the pick that ORL thought would be lottery-bound worthless. Wait until January and make sure that Cleveland sucks and that they will be in the lottery before trading for the pick.
Make sure HOU's draft picks aren't just summer league stars but are actually showing promise when they hit the court.
All in all, this is news for both the Magic and other teams.
1) Don't underestimate NBA stars desire to win. It seems like more and more will sacrifice money in order to put themselves in a position to win. (e.g. D-Will)
2) Cap space is important, but so are draft picks and young players. Teams that have stars but who want to get rid of them can take deals for them and teams who don't have the cap space but have other assets can drive up the bidding price for such stars. (e.g. PHX & Nash)
