MINNEAPOLIS (AP) _ The Minnesota Timberwolves signed forward Joe Smith to a six-year contract worth about $34 million, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. Smith's agent, Dan Fegan, told the paper that Smith had orally accepted the deal earlier this week, but planning for a wedding had kept him from signing it then. Documents were forwarded Wednesday to the Wolves, Fegan said. The league still must approve the contract. The deal will eat up all of the Wolves' $4.5 million salary cap exception, meaning the team is now limited to signing free agents to minimum contracts or their own free agents to specified raises. Smith, who turns 26 Thursday, played with Minnesota for two seasons before an arbitrator sided with NBA commissioner David Stern, who voided Smith's contract after finding the Timberwolves guilty last fall of signing him to a series of illegal contracts designed to sidestep the salary cap. Picked first overall by the Golden State Warriors in 1994 out of Maryland, Smith signed with the Detroit Pistons last year _ averaging 12.3 points and 7.1 rebounds. In additional punishment for the illegal contract, the Wolves were fined $3 million and forfeited five first-round draft picks _ one of which was later returned. Team owner Glen Taylor is on leave of absence until Sept. 1 and vice president Kevin McHale recently returned from a seven-month suspension. hahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ------------------ www.expage.com/saveourunis
I am VERY interested to see how the fans receive him. ------------------ I'm looking for a job, so hire me "And I just have to smile and say 'well, I hope so' while I'm really thinking inside how I'd like to just strangle them and take their job."
This isn't over. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
But at least it bumps the Spurs threads down ------------------ "The things I enjoy most, I suck at: 1) Sex: everything's fine until she makes noises." - Achebe [This message has been edited by SmeggySmeg (edited July 25, 2001).]
LOL. Is anyone else amazed that Smith is only 26? It makes sense if he was drafted when he was 20, but it seems like he should be much older. ------------------
Well the league can't legally void THIS contract. I think that Joe Smith will be well-received in Minnesota, especially since he is friends with Garnett. ------------------ "Instruments are like women: After a while, you want to make love to another." - Nicolas Godin of the musical duo Air
Well, David Stern didn't really have the authority to gut the T'Wolves franchise, but he did anyway. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
$34 million???? The money being thrown at these one dimensional players is staggering. Jerome Williams-$40 mil (for rebounds and hustle, but little else) Alan Houston-$100 mil (a shooter who does little else) ------------------ "For there is nothing either good or bad, thinking makes it so." - William Shakespeare (1564-1616), Hamlet [This message has been edited by BobFinn* (edited July 25, 2001).]
And it's a little generous to say that Smith's even one-dimensional. I try not to brag about too many things in my online life, but I'm very proud of having been the first Warrior fan to call for trading Joe Smith in any Internet forum (in November/December '96, at the beginning of his second year). ------------------
Well, David Stern didn't really have the authority to gut the T'Wolves franchise, but he did anyway. Actually Stern DID have the authority to gut the Timberwolves. The T-Wolves broke a binding agreement, and he had full authority to punish them. He doesn't have the authority to cancel a contract now because the Wolves haven't done anything wrong in signing Joe Smith THIS time! ------------------ "Instruments are like women: After a while, you want to make love to another." - Nicolas Godin of the musical duo Air
He had the authority to punish them, but as far as I know, he didn't have he authority to do so so severly. ------------------ The time for logic and reason has come and gone. It's homer time now. Believe.
Everything Stern did was written into the agreement, so legally he could do it. He wouldn't have been able to fire people in the organization, or take things from the organization (like shares of it), or do anything that would permanently destroy it's business, but he was in his rights to what he did. In fact he had the authority to do WORSE, and actually pulled back. ------------------ "Instruments are like women: After a while, you want to make love to another." - Nicolas Godin of the musical duo Air
WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH THE LOVEFEST BETWEEN THE PUPPES AND JOE SMITH!?!?!?!?!?!!? Makes me SICK!!!!!!!! ------------------
????? What do you mean? ------------------ "Homosexuals are just trying to make their sodomy as morally acceptable as the sodomy I enjoy in my church-sanctioned marriage." Frank Brodhagen, The Onion
He costs them 5 draft picks, 3 million dollars, and they lost him as well. And now they just resign him. They even tried to resign right after he was released by the NBA. ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again.
I think he was the best free agent available though... The players and the coach all love him too. Signing Ellis instead would have hurt the team. ------------------ "Homosexuals are just trying to make their sodomy as morally acceptable as the sodomy I enjoy in my church-sanctioned marriage." Frank Brodhagen, The Onion
