Ok, since Swift wants to play for us, would it be illegal for him to hire an agent, sign in the Cba, then sign with us. Or just sign with us and pull out of the draft? ------------------ Rockets games are like a box of chocolates, you never know whacha your gonna get.
dream on he is going to play for whoever drafts him. no disrespect but thats a stupid idea anyways. ------------------ --TEX
A team would still have his rights because they would still draft him, and when he comes back to the NBA he would belong to whatever team drafted him. See Steve Young, Bo Jackson, Rhagib Ismail. ------------------ "We need to fockass".....Dream back in the day
I believe that a team retains signing rights for no more than two years. Remember all the speculation about David Robinson NOT wanting to play with a perennial loser at San Antonio? The complication of his 2 year Naval commitment made it a real possibility that he could screw San Antonio, but he didn't and signed during the time frame in which they held his rights. Steve Young was allocated in the USFL dispersal draft, I believe, and not in the regular NFL draft. I believe that Rocket and Bo signed within a short time period (2 years or less) after their brief careers in the CFL and MLB respectively. Rocket signed for big bucks in Canada BEFORE the NFL draft. NFL scouts were downgrading him for his size and it was costing him money so to Canada he went. And Bo, I believe, was dissatisfied with his selection by Tampa Bay and held a baseball bat to their head and they were forced to move him. ------------------ There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
Yeah I believe you're right about retaining the rights for a couple of years. I remember Dallas drafted Hershel Walker with a late round draft pick a year before the USFL folded. ------------------
nba.com has the rules posted. search for 1999 draft or something. As I recall, the team that drafts the player has rights FOREVER as long as the player is playing professional ball somewhere. To become a free agent, Swift would have to go 2 years without playing for money. I don't think that is going to happen, to say the least. Don't even talk about it. It is silly. Only someone with a Navy obligation would go 2 yrs without playing.
I thought it was 1 year, then he could re-enter the draft, and be drafted by another team. I seem to remember the Celtics being worried that Bird was going to do that, as he was drafted after his junior year. DaDakota ------------------
Yeah...the only real sustained downtime in Spurs history was the mid80s when the Spurs did some crackhead moves like trading Ice to the Bulls. IIRC, the speculation was that DRob wanted to go to Cleveland. Of course, Musberger thought that he should have joined the Lakers. ------------------ It's a cool site, this clutchcity.net
Of course, Ice didn't prefer the crackrock, he enjoyed the blow much better. The drug trade must've been doing quite well back then on I 10 with the Spurs and Rockets...but alas I digress ------------------ It's a cool site, this clutchcity.net
DaDakota, you are talking about underclassmen who don't sign with a free agent and withdraw their draft commitment at least ONE WEEK prior to draft day. Bird was actually a special case; he never committed to the draft, and they changed the rules after that as underclassmen now must announce their desire to be drafted. Under the new laws, once someone is drafted, all bets are off. The player cannot gain free agent rights without going 2 years not playing pro bball. They can go into the Navy like Robinson, or go to baseball or something, but as long as they are playing basketball for money somewhere, US players become draftable and the team who drafted them retain their rights. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 09, 2000).]
Yeah, Bird had been in college for 4 years and could have automatically gone back into the draft simply by not agreeing to a contract with the Celtics. Who had the second pack after the Lakers picked Magic? Wasn't Mychal Thompson the second pick that year? ------------------ There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
actually, Larry Bird was selected before his last year at ISU (one year ahead of Magic). The Celtics had one year to sign him. There was no rule about players having to leave college to be drafted. That is the rule that changed. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 09, 2000).]
I went back to the historical record. Bird was drafted #6 in 1978 and Magic #1 in 1979. Guess who had the #2 pick in 1979.... Chicago! Would Bird have elevated the Bulls quickly enough to have deprived them of Jordan just a few years later? Imagine Bird and Jordan anchoring the Bulls franchise throughout the 80s. The Knicks had the #3 pick in 1979. Wouldn't the league have loved a Bird/Magic (Knick/Laker) rivalry throughout the 80s. Where are our conspiracy theorists now! ------------------ There are 3 kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.
no...still not the best way to say it...it effectively is not 2 years. once drafted, it is best to say FOREVER, unless you really believe someone like Swift will go 2 years without making money. let me see if I can stress that more. Swift could play for the Clippers for $9m over 3 years, and become a free agent at $9M/yr max afterwards, or he could play for NOTHING for 2 years and come out at $9m max hoping a team will pay his 2 years of rusty ass the max Nope!!! There is no trick anymore. Players cannot benefit from avoiding the draft. [This message has been edited by heypartner (edited June 10, 2000).]
