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Or is it now or never? It Kerr doesn't offer an extension this summer, does this mean Amar'e won't sign one at the end of the season? Has anything been said about this?

The smart thing to do would be not extend him until the end of the season to see how he plays and if his eyeball falls out.

I think he will. He knows he needs to prove he's healthy and still capable.

WTFsunsFTW wrote:The smart thing to do would be not extend him until the end of the season to see how he plays and if his eyeball falls out.

Yeah I think either way, Amare is NOT going to opt out of his contract for the 2010-2011 season. I think he'd rather either get the max contract extension before then, or be THE MAN in the 2011 off season, instead of just one of many (more) marquee free agents during 2010.

Speaking of that, I'm wondering if LeBron will sign an extension this year, and make next summer extremely anti-climactic.

WTFsunsFTW wrote:The smart thing to do would be not extend him until the end of the season to see how he plays and if his eyeball falls out.

haha. I love how delicately you put it.

He's not going to opt out of his contract at the end of the year, the cap is getting tighter and teams are not going to be spending that much on free agents besides the lebrons and wades of the NBA.

Give him an extention and either way it works out, teams will know how long he'll be there if they trade for him and he's also secure here if we keep him

I think Amare will show that you can revolve a team around him, that he is a franchise player. I posted this before but I see Amare averaging 25, 10, and 2. That is definitely worth an extension.

DirtyDez wrote:Give him an extention and either way it works out, teams will know how long he'll be there if they trade for him and he's also secure here if we keep him

I'm all for this plan, if he's willing to settle on $14-16m/year instead of the max. If you're a max player, you better be a leader on and off the court, and a complete player, and he is not. Of all the players in the NBA, I think only maybe LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, and MAYBE Chris Paul are max players. There are others that are on the fringe: Dirk Nowitzki, Carmello Anthony, Dwight Howard, Paul Pierce, Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, Chris Bosh, etc. -- guys that are missing something still, either they haven't been in the league long enough or aren't quite mature enough or are deficient in some aspect of their game. Then there's a third tier of highly skilled players who are meant to be second bananas on their team, and don't seem to have an interest in a leadership role, and that's where I'd place Amare.

I would disagree Justin about the third tier and putting Amare in that. He has wanted leadership, but got that ripped from him last year. Its also a joke to say you think we pay him 14-16 mil a year. You don’t pay one of the best PF in the game 14mil when the market dictates that these types of players are max players, even if they do not have the all around perfect game like the Kobe's of the nba. That will not go over for any player. What you do is say we will pay you near max dollars, but want to use that few mil to sign supporting players for a championship team around you Amare. You have to sale it to a player why he should take a 1-3 mil dollar cut in their salary. Remember, it is a business and each and every player is going to want to max his earning potential. That is what I do and most people do when they are in the work force. (unless you are living on government support)

Plus, I would change your tiers. KG was not a leader for his team in Minny, really ever. He cared about the money more than winning. If you think we can get Amare for cheap, you’re fooling yourself. If you think we should not pay near max for Amare, again, you are fooling yourself.

I think he stays if the FO has any brains and resign him at near max. Around 18 or 19 mil a year. But our FO is incompetent and will screw this team up even more.

eastsidecrossover wrote:I would disagree Justin about the third tier and putting Amare in that. He has wanted leadership, but got that ripped from him last year. Its also a joke to say you think we pay him 14-16 mil a year. You don’t pay one of the best PF in the game 14mil when the market dictates that these types of players are max players, even if they do not have the all around perfect game like the Kobe's of the nba. That will not go over for any player. What you do is say we will pay you near max dollars, but want to use that few mil to sign supporting players for a championship team around you Amare. You have to sale it to a player why he should take a 1-3 mil dollar cut in their salary. Remember, it is a business and each and every player is going to want to max his earning potential. That is what I do and most people do when they are in the work force. (unless you are living on government support)

Plus, I would change your tiers. KG was not a leader for his team in Minny, really ever. He cared about the money more than winning. If you think we can get Amare for cheap, you’re fooling yourself. If you think we should not pay near max for Amare, again, you are fooling yourself.

I think he stays if the FO has any brains and resign him at near max. Around 18 or 19 mil a year. But our FO is incompetent and will screw this team up even more.

"Half the time, it's pretty much on me, but I'm not a captain. So you can't put too much of the blame on me. It's not my job to rally the troops and get everybody on board. It's the captains' job to do that. I pretty much play my position." --- Amare Stoudemire on being a leader

DirtyDez wrote:

eastsidecrossover wrote:I would disagree Justin about the third tier and putting Amare in that. He has wanted leadership, but got that ripped from him last year. Its also a joke to say you think we pay him 14-16 mil a year. You don’t pay one of the best PF in the game 14mil when the market dictates that these types of players are max players, even if they do not have the all around perfect game like the Kobe's of the nba. That will not go over for any player. What you do is say we will pay you near max dollars, but want to use that few mil to sign supporting players for a championship team around you Amare. You have to sale it to a player why he should take a 1-3 mil dollar cut in their salary. Remember, it is a business and each and every player is going to want to max his earning potential. That is what I do and most people do when they are in the work force. (unless you are living on government support)

Plus, I would change your tiers. KG was not a leader for his team in Minny, really ever. He cared about the money more than winning. If you think we can get Amare for cheap, you’re fooling yourself. If you think we should not pay near max for Amare, again, you are fooling yourself.

I think he stays if the FO has any brains and resign him at near max. Around 18 or 19 mil a year. But our FO is incompetent and will screw this team up even more.

"Half the time, it's pretty much on me, but I'm not a captain. So you can't put too much of the blame on me. It's not my job to rally the troops and get everybody on board. It's the captains' job to do that. I pretty much play my position." --- Amare Stoudemire on being a leader

Well said. Amare at 19 million a year is a mistake.

justinb80 wrote:Speaking of that, I'm wondering if LeBron will sign an extension this year, and make next summer extremely anti-climactic.

Doubtful. After the Varejao extension and the fact that Cleveland failing to land Dyess/Sheed/Ariza, or making any significant moves aside from Shaq, Lebron should have very little confidence in the front office to build a championship team. He can easily afford to take a pay cut and get his money from new endorsement deals and his businesses.

rsavaj wrote:Well said. Amare at 19 million a year is a mistake.

Agreed. That's franchise player type money. For 19M a year, you gotta be able to carry your team day in and day out.

DirtyDez wrote:"Half the time, it's pretty much on me, but I'm not a captain. So you can't put too much of the blame on me. It's not my job to rally the troops and get everybody on board. It's the captains' job to do that. I pretty much play my position." --- Amare Stoudemire on being a leader

Wasnt that also said after he WAS a captain for 3 years, then they took it away from him and made Hill and Shaq captains? What i see in that quote is his frustration at having his captains spot taken away, and i dont blame him. The captains were Nash/Marion/Amare. 3 years later, they give it to 2 new guys Nash/Hill/Shaq. Call it pouting if you must, but we would be foolish not to give him the max. Almost as foolish as Portland for dickin' around with Roy and only offering him a 3 year deal.

Keep in mind, that my post about tiers of players is how I, personally, would divide up the league. I know that's not the reality. Gilbert Arenas got max money, after all, and he's basically Ben Gordon with a bigger mouth.

Amare can be a leader, regardless of his status as captain. He can act mature, watch his mouth, and lead by example. He can keep his emotions in check on the court, cut down on the Ts, etc. Leadership is a character trait, not a title.

Kerrsed wrote:

DirtyDez wrote:"Half the time, it's pretty much on me, but I'm not a captain. So you can't put too much of the blame on me. It's not my job to rally the troops and get everybody on board. It's the captains' job to do that. I pretty much play my position." --- Amare Stoudemire on being a leader

Wasnt that also said after he WAS a captain for 3 years, then they took it away from him and made Hill and Shaq captains? What i see in that quote is his frustration at having his captains spot taken away, and i dont blame him. The captains were Nash/Marion/Amare. 3 years later, they give it to 2 new guys Nash/Hill/Shaq. Call it pouting if you must, but we would be foolish not to give him the max. Almost as foolish as Portland for dickin' around with Roy and only offering him a 3 year deal.

A real leader would never let the 'captains' label be taken away, everyone knows Amare's not a leader but it doesn't mean he can't be built around. The guy is a physical force and exceptional athlete, there's no reason he shouldn't be averaging a double-double every game, a real 'leader' should try on both ends not just offensively and set the tone for the team. Only problem is nobody on this team plays 'D'... I think we should keep him but not for 20 mil a year

The only reason I wouldn't give Amare a max deal right now is because the salary cap is gonna shrink again after this following year, and if that happens, I don't want Amare to have a 19 mil payroll, Richardson to have a 14 mil payroll, Nash to have a 10 mil payroll, and Barbosa to have a 7 mil payroll. That right there is 50 mil, if the salary goes to only 55 mil, they have no money to buy a free agent.
What I would do is wait this year, see if we can offer him a max contract after the salary cap figures changes, and go off of there. I believe a max contract is worth roughly 1/3 the team's cap.
Having said that, I would try and offer a contract that shrinks every year instead of increases. Offer Amare more money up front and let it decline over the next five years. Would like to do that with Barbosa as well. I sure as hell don't want to see a contract that reaches 20 mil.

Hmm they are projecting a $60mill tax threshold for next year, whoch would mean around a $50ish mill cap.

Realising that, it would be lunacy to extend someone to a max right now of $19mill - that would be near 40% of the entire salary cap!

IF the cap does come down, i'm pretty sure the "max" comes down too, as the max that other teams can offer I believe is dictated by a percentage of the cap?

It might be different if *we* are extending him, but in either case, if we can offer him a max raise of say 10% of his final year (ie $19mill base) and the closest any other team can offer is $12.5mill base, well we'd be in a very strong position.

Might pay to ditch JRich for an expiring (say Boozer), so we enter next offseason already significantly below the cap (and thus we won't waste half of it having to penny-pinch) :p

We'd have a total payroll of around $49.5mill with

Amare $17m
Nash $10m
Barbosa $7m
Hill $3.5m

Dragic $2m
Tucker $2m
Dudley $2m
Clark $2m
Frye $2m
Lopez $2m

With the MLE to spend on a complementary starter.

justinb80 wrote:Keep in mind, that my post about tiers of players is how I, personally, would divide up the league. I know that's not the reality. Gilbert Arenas got max money, after all, and he's basically Ben Gordon with a bigger mouth.

Serious?