can somebody explain why guaranteed contracts are bad for the nba?

1. i applaud the owners for softening there stance on guaranteed contracts and ceding that to the players.

this is what i never understood.

1. the nba is not like the nfl where you get 50 million right out of the gate for being a top player and proving nothing. that is fundamentally wrong.

the nba slots money by drafted pick, which is right. they also have to prove they belong during there rookie deal to be able to make the big money down the line.

you dont prove you can play, you dont get the money.

2. guaranteed money does not mean a player will become complacent. most players making the big money make the big money because they are the best in the league.

sure you have your busts who did nothing after they got there money, but taking a look at the top 20 paid nba players, two of them have been a detriment, gilbert arenas and rashard lewis.

some of the others were overpaid to begin with: redd, k-mart, peja.

which correlates to my final point.

if the owners are so scared about a player taking the money and doing nothing, then why offer the player money to begin with.

the owners deserve all the blame as they are the ones who decide value in the end.

There are tons of players who were hot free agents and got big contracts and then didn't do shit. It is fine that they get a large signing bonus but in many cases the teams are then stuck with players who don't perform. Ask Atlanta about John Contract (Koncak). Ask the Heat about Alec Kessler. The list goes on and on. What ends up happening is the teams have to negotiate a long term buyout of the contract.

Guaranteed contracts are the worst thing that ever happened to the NBA.

well, with the mindset of half the guys in the league, it shouldnt be too hard to figure out. plus with the cap, one bad contract, or one max deal to a guy who mails it in after getting paid, and the team is crippled for years.

also see: arenas, gilbert

Were I to have the inspiration, I'm confident I could make a list of at least 60 (avg two or more per team) players in the NBA who have signed guaranteed money deals and are consistently performing at a high level.

If it was truly a bad business strategy, it's baffling why most all owners happily dole out such contracts for a select portion of their respective rosters.

Kenny B said:

There are tons of players who were hot free agents and got big contracts and then didn't do shit

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If it has happend tons of times, why doesn't management simply stop doing it? Why didn't they stop a long time ago? Stop paying the players more than they are worth and there is no issue. If someone offers me $65 million I'm going to take it. If they refuse to offer more than a small fraction of that, my only options would be to accept it, negotiate elsewhere or earn zero

Legislating against stupidity sometimes does help people who are stupid, but it is rarely the best way to go

if the players association thought their players were capable of behaving normal, giving effort, and living up to contracts, they wouldn't be too worried about the guaranteed contracts. Don't have them in the nfl (which is the league that probably should have them).

doubledeuce22 said:

if the players association thought their players were capable of behaving normal, giving effort, and living up to contracts, they wouldn't be too worried about the guaranteed contracts. Don't have them in the nfl (which is the league that probably should have them).

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ridiculous comment. you could say that about any league with guaranteed contracts then.

im not for bailing out stupid owners who are dumb enough to offer money in the first place.

it is there own stupidity, which is why teams get into cap trouble.

on the other hand, i have no problem with the hard cap owners are proposing.

I wish i had a guaranteed contract

The problem with the NBA is that to sign someone you practically have to guarantee their contract, that is why there are so many guaranteed contracts.

The owners did put themselves from this mess and they need to be saved from themselves.

We are going to have a prolonged NBA lockout and I'd be stunned if the NBA didn't lose at least a quarter of the season. Even though the NBA is more star-based than any of the other big four sports, the players union is quite weak as most players blow through their money quickly and live paycheck to paycheck. The players are right in principle but are going to be crushed by the owners and forced to make concessions.

doubledeuce22 said:

if the players association thought their players were capable of behaving normal, giving effort, and living up to contracts, they wouldn't be too worried about the guaranteed contracts. Don't have them in the nfl (which is the league that probably should have them).

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In fact, NFL contracts over the past decade have steadily increased in the amount and time span of guaranteed money.

All 1strounders are guaranteed 3year contracts right away. That's a horrible business strategy. Making players contracts a tradable commodity is very bad for the league. Look at Eddy Curry and tell me what he did to deserve his contract. Not only did he not earn it, the contract was a valued asset as it could be traded as contracts must be somewhat paired-up to balance out a trade.

Of course if the owners are dumb enough to offer these perks to the players....

HinesWard86 said:

The owners did put themselves from this mess and they need to be saved from themselves.

We are going to have a prolonged NBA lockout and I'd be stunned if the NBA didn't lose at least a quarter of the season. Even though the NBA is more star-based than any of the other big four sports, the players union is quite weak as most players blow through their money quickly and live paycheck to paycheck. The players are right in principle but are going to be crushed by the owners and forced to make concessions.

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Agree with all of this.

I'm generally on the players side and almost always side with players over owners in all leagues, however this one in which I agree with the owners. Not so much to protect the owners but the fans. NBA has problem where players get 4-5-6 year contracts and whether through injury, age, or lack of effort players all of sudden become burden on the team. Some teams it takes 2-3 years before they can even start to rebuild as they wait for the contracts to expire. This is happening too much and killing fan bases because fans lose interest for couple of seasons.

I think the rookies contract are fine because they are very low scale and instead of getting huge contracts at beginning, it forces them to earn it. No reason to punish fan base by drafting dud and paying him millions on top of that.

Solution should be that max contracts are 4 years with the final year being team and player option. This is win-win because the good players are never undervalued for too long, and the bad players aren't overpaid, thus making sure the money is going to the right players.

See Shawn Kemp
See Baron Davis
See Tyron Lue
See Rashard Lewis
See Gilbert Arena
See Michael Olwakandi
See Erik Dampier
See Shaq at the end of his career
See Joe Johnson

There are plenty of bad contracts in the league. Why do teams give them out, because they feel they need to sign certain players in order to sell their product and promote their team.

TomGshotput said:

If it has happend tons of times, why doesn't management simply stop doing it? Why didn't they stop a long time ago? Stop paying the players more than they are worth and there is no issue. If someone offers me $65 million I'm going to take it. If they refuse to offer more than a small fraction of that, my only options would be to accept it, negotiate elsewhere or earn zero

Legislating against stupidity sometimes does help people who are stupid, but it is rarely the best way to go

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great post right here and it doesn't really stop at basketball.. Great, great post sir.

vin baker....... theo ratliffe.

gynecologist said:

great post right here and it doesn't really stop at basketball.. Great, great post sir.

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Because the NBA is set up trade-wise to balance out contracts. You cannot trade a future star making 3 mil to Denver for Carmelo making 20 mil. The salaries must match up. The slotting of bad contracts is now rewarded and has value.

http://www.aolnews.com/2010/05/26/the-trials-and-tribulations-of-eddy-curry/

Eddy Curry has a $60 million contract, $4.5 million mansion and a $6,000-a-month personal chef. His kids go to private school and he has his choice of expensive luxury vehicles.

Curry, though, needs money.

In fact, according to reports, Curry went to Allstar Capital to take out a personal loan in 2008, when he borrowed $580,000 at a whopping 85% interest, a rate that's only legal to charge in Nevada.

A bank also moved to foreclose on his mansion in June 2009. Nearly a year later, Curry still needs money.

A judge on Tuesday ordered that the New York Knicks' underachieving center pay $75,000 per month plus interest to repay his debt that ballooned to $1.2 million. The judge also ordered Allstar to collect three of Curry's cars -- two 2009 Land Rovers and a Phantom convertible, according to the New York Daily News.

Citing Allstar lawyer Donald David, the Daily News also reported that Curry has never paid any portion of the loan. Maybe that's for good reason, if you consider the big man's myriad of reported expenses, including $17,000 in monthly rent, $30,000 in household expenses and $16,000 in allowance that he reportedly pays to relatives and hangers-on.



Share "Mr. Curry appears to be a very, very generous man," David toldthe Daily News. "He appears to have taken it upon himself to support every person named Curry on the East Coast."

While Curry's generosity is to be admired, his business acumen -- and general lackadaisical financial sense -- is frankly head-scratching.

The New York Post reported Wednesday that Curry has no idea how his millions disappeared. Curry claims, according to the newspaper, that his accountant, Lamont Carter, handled his money up until 2008, when Curry realized he was in financial ruin.

At that point, he fired Carter, who was also his manager and the man responsible for paying his bills in full, according to the newspaper. The Post reported that Curry has sued Carter but, needless to say, the damage has been done.

The report said that Curry has more than $2 million in debt, though don't expect him to remember to whom he is indebted. Curry had a hard time recalling the cars that he owns when he was pressed on the issue at a recent court hearing, according to the Post.

Ooof.



Unfortunately, that's less than half of what has gone wrong for Curry, who, for what it's worth, is considered one of the nicer people in the NBA.

Curry's former girlfriend, Nova Henry, and their nine-month-old daughter were murdered in late January 2009 in Chicago. Curry and Henry's three-year-old son, Noah, was found unharmed at the scene. The big center was embroiled in a custody battle over Noah after Henry's death.

Just weeks prior, Curry was hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit by his former chauffeur David Kuchinsky, who also alleged racial discrimination, saying that the 6-11 Curry hurled racial and ethnic slurs at him. Kuchinsky said he was addressed by Curry as "cracker", "white slave", "white devil" and "grandmaster of the KKK," according to multiple reports.

In 2007, Curry and his wife were tied up and robbed at their Chicago mansion at gunpoint by three burglars.

Had enough?

Well, that doesn't even begin to describe his struggles on the court, where he has played just 10 games over the last two seasons thanks to injuries, weight problems and poor play. Not to mention that Curry has been a financial albatross for the Knicks, who have been in a mad scramble to clear cap space for this summer.

Curry, 27, was the fourth overall selection in the 2001 draft out of high school in Illinois. Former team president Isiah Thomas mortgaged much of New York's future in a trade with the Chicago Bulls for Curry, who joined the team in 2005-06 despite a heart ailment that left his health in doubt.

Since, Curry's role in New York has diminished. New coach Mike D'Antoni and team president Donnie Walsh repeatedly have tried to deal the 285-pound Curry, who appears useless in D'Antoni's fast-paced offense. Curry has a player option for over $11 million in 2010-11.

Somehow, it seems he'll still need money.


Fast forward to today. Curry made over $30 million the last 3 years and played a total of 10 games, scoring 31 points. Curry made over $68 million in his NBA career, probably earned $10 mil tops. There are many cases like Curry, especially non-lottery picks.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/curryed01.html

I think Greg Oden has made a lot of money for rarely playing. Wasn't Blake Griffin out the entire rookie season also? Looks to me the NBA owners are no smarter than the NFL owners.