what kind of contract will Jamison get?

[nate33]

The reality is the team should be able to not only re-sign both Arenas(max) and Jamison(9mill), they should ALSO use all 6 million of the MLE to improve the team as well! Honestly, theres no excuse not to... the seats have been filled and theres plenty of interest in the team. This falls on Abe, does he want a title(meaning is he a true fan) or does he just want quality respectable team? OWNERS SHOULD FIRST BE FANS, NOT IN THIS TO MAKE MONEY. If any are in it to #1 profit, sell. It's flat out wrong. I don't wanna sound like a 5 year old but its true. How could anyone of you accept losing a talent over the owner being unwilling to pay an extra 1-4 million?

It's pretty easy to say this when it's not your money. Owners are in the position that they're in because they're good businessmen. They don't make stupid decisions with money. The only exception are the ultra-rich like Cuban and Allen. They lucked into their money to some degree by benefiting from the irrational dot com boom.

But getting back to the dollars of your argument: if Abe signs Arenas to the max and Jamison to a $9M deal, the team will be about $1M under the luxtax with a payroll of $68.5M. Sign Mason to a modest deal at $2M, and then sign a MLE free agent, and the payroll is $76M and the total cost to Abe after the luxtax and loss of revenue is $85.5M. Assuming standard salary raises, the payroll in the following year would be about $84M and the total cost after luxtax would $101M.

You are asking Abe to shell out $186M over the next 2 seasons. If, instead, he manages to sign Arenas for $13.5M and Jamison for $8M; he keeps Mason at $2M and doesn't sign an MLE free agent, then his total costs over the next 2 years is just $140M. Abe would save $46 MILLION DOLLARS by being just negotiating a little bit harder in the offseason.

Sorry, Ghost of Kwame. There's a reason why Abe is where he is and you are where you are.

[wateryd]

i think everyone needs to stop seriously thinking that jamison will settle for something along the lines of 4/32. it's just not going to happen. i know that right now not many teams have cap space, the ones that do aren't the most attractive destinations/are rebuilding, but things can and will change. great players get paid. we're not talking about a bonzi wells or a charlie bell who is going to have settle for something. we're talking about a two-time all-star, 20/10 guy who has a reputation as one of the classiest individuals and best teammates in the league. and he's getting up there in years but he remains one of the most durable players in the game who keeps himself in peak physical condition. he NEVER misses random games.

as the cavs proved a few years ago it only takes one team to determine how valuable a player is. we'd love to think that AJ will settle for less to stick around here, but 1) the union will throw a fit if he does that, 2) this will be the last major payday of his entire career and he will want to cash in. it's easy to say that with 100+ million already that he's set and of course he is, but $$ is $$. you really think AJ will settle for less so the wizards can throw max money at gilbert? no no no. (gil's statements about taking less money himself are laughable, at least to me.)

i think it will take at least 4/44 or 5/50 to get him back. it will be a very tough decision, but it's one that i hope EG and the basketball minds can make on their own without any input from abe.

[no D in Hibachi]

The problem with thinking that Jamison will sign for 4/44 or 5/50 is who will sign him for that amount? There are only a couple of teams in the league who have any money under the salary cap and they are all rebuilding. Rebuilding teams do not pay a 32 y.o. tweener 10m+ per year.

There will not be a big market for Jamison this off-season, especially if Brand opts out. The Wizards have made it more than clear that they will focus on Arenas first, then Jamison. EG will give Arenas his and offer the left overs to Jamison as a take it or leave it. Jamison will probably settle becasue 1) He won't be getting more elsewhere, 2) He seems to like it in DC, and 3) I'm sure he realizes that he won't have as big a role with another team as he does with the Wizards.

[southnc]

It's certainly nice to hear Jamison publicly state that he would like to be in DC. However, money talks LOUDER. In other words, we've heard players say this before and then head elsewhere.

If Arenas is dealt then I believe Jamison will definitely stay. If Arenas gets his ransom and stays, then I think it's 50/50 that Jamison does to - and, I hope he does re-sign with the Wiz.

[Zerocious]

i would hope arenas know he needs consistency now more than ever. He needs BOTH caron and AJ to get deep into the playoffs or even win something. Letting AJ go is going to demotivate the team, and rotating a replacement is just going to put the wiz back to where they were two years ago. Arenas hopefully will see the argument, "you're money demands will directly affect you playing next to AJ." Arenas looks up to twan, twan is the teams leader and to a certain degree arenas solid rock. as mentioned before, there's not a more classy person in the league, a great lockerroom leader, an offcourt leader. Arenas knows HE NEEDS THAT. he knows he's not the leader, he knows antwan is. He know leadership is key to win.

[johnbragg]

Just checked on Larry Coon's CBA FAQ to make sure I had everything straight. Jamison will not be seeing any offers from contenders for more than 3 years at the MLE because of the Over-36 Rule.

The rule basically says that you can't offer someone else's free agent over 32 more money than they'd make on a three year deal. (The fourth and fifth year of the contract are counted as deferred compensation for the first three years, and so you have to use cap or MLE money from the first three years to pay for it.)

So the most that a Cleveland, a New Orleans, a Portland or a Houston can offer is three years at the MLE. That won't be more than $6/$6.5/$7M.

So if we offer Jamison $30M over 3 or 4 years, he should take it. Any other offer from a contender will be for less. As I explained to someone who wanted me to take a pay cut to come work for him, "What I'm making now is More. What you're offering is Less. I don't want Less. More, you see, is More than Less."

[GhostOfKwame]

-= original quote snipped =-

Abe would save $46 MILLION DOLLARS by being just negotiating a little bit harder in the offseason.

My main point was that there seems to be a sense that they aren't even gonna wanna pay an extra 2-5 mill a year, even if it means keeping a critical piece or using the MLE on something important. Those numbers are more extreme. I can understand not wanting to give an extra 20 million a year.

You say negotiating a little harder, but would that be worth getting NOTHING for Arenas or Jamison? Yes we got EXTREMELY lucky and fooled LA into giving us Butler, and then having him turn out so great(i admit i didn't know he'd be half as good), but losing Larry for nothing... someone who had such a big role will usually murder you... we lucked out. That's why I had been on the Trade Jamison thing for so long. But now how he's playing, I understand why he won't.

There's a reason I stopped following baseball... certain teams have next to no chance because they wont/can't spend the money. The NBA cap helps alot, but you need alot more star power to win big for a long time in the NBA, which cost money. You need you're studs and a willingness to go over with the MLE each year, to add those role player pieces and get you over the top. Don't know if we'll have much a chance at ever being a consistant title contender for that reason.

[Wiz99]

i think everyone needs to stop seriously thinking that jamison will settle for something along the lines of 4/32.

...

i think it will take at least 4/44 or 5/50 to get him back. it will be a very tough decision, but it's one that i hope EG and the basketball minds can make on their own without any input from abe.

Abe Polin is EXACTLY why Jamison will get paid. The guy's drunk on the concept of loyalty. It's why Wes Unseld was able to GM and eff up this franchise so thoroughly over so many years. He'll order Grunfeld to pay Jamison probably $2-3 mil per year more than what anyone else out there is offering. Guy is strictly 20th century: as much as I hate to say it, there's no loyalty left in business.

That said, I WOULD pay Jamison more that other teams, just to keep him happy [employees always have the implied threat of becoming a malcontent on their side].

Wow... I sound cynical about employee-management relations, don't I. You'd think I'm a CEO or a union organizer!