Read Full at TwolvesDen.com Timberwolves All-Star point guard Sam Cassell is looking for a multi-year contract extension, and he may not join the team until his demands are met, according to KFAN.com. Cassell did not fly into town for Monday's mandatory media-day session, and his agent, Dr. Charles Tucker, confirmed that the guard is prepared to hold out. Neither Tucker nor the Timberwolves could confirm if Cassell would let his holdout last into the regular season. Cassell is signed through the 2005-06 season and is scheduled to make $5.65 million this season.
If that's all he's getting, for once I'm not going to call an athlete who's holding out greedy. Sam I Am is almost as important to that team as Garnett is. I'm also for this holdout as it will prevent Minnesota from keeping that loaded lineup together long-term. The money crunch will hit them, just like it hit Sacramento.
I love Cassell as most people here do. But i don't think you should sign a contract if you don't intend on keeping it. In the real work world w/o contracts you can get fired or laid off anyday of the week. In all of sports nowadays, everyone wants an extension before their contract expires. Well, what's the point of even having a final year of a contract if players aren't going to oblige to it? I guess what i'm trying to say is these players should be lucky that they get contracts and guaranteed money, because most of the working class of America doesn't.
Sam effed up his contract a long time ago. He signed a 6 year deal for peanuts. And then because of the CBA, he couldn't get a raise unless he was on a team with cap space. And instead of waiting out his contract or demanding a trade to a team with cap space (like Shawn Kemp did), Sam decided to get his guaranteed money by extending his contract 3 more years with only modest raises. He's still paid way below value, but he is stuck with it because he decided to get his money in the back end instead of trusting that he won't get injured. And now it's the same story. He want's the guaranteed bucks via back end years and money before he's too run down to get it on ability. It's pretty sad. He's one of the few players in the league that I think got screwed out of a lot of cash. Does anyone realise that from 1997-2006, Sam will have averaged about $4.2 mill a year. That's just amazing for a player of his caliber.
Word. If I held out in my line of work, I'd get no business. The contract is the most important thing in judging what is right and wrong. -Kim Professional Hitman
Every Business is different comparing them is not really fair Music Contracts Movie Contracts Athletic contracts are almost NOTHING like contracts in the 'real working world' uniqueness avails Leverage The reason you cannot hold out. . is because u have little leverage If you were the ONLY person to know how to do the MOST important thing in your company . . . .trust me. . YOU COULD HOLD OUT FOR ALOT [the thinking is.. . i could pay him 1,000,000 a year or spend 10 mil on replacing the whole system. We only made 4 mil profit last yea.r. . . uhm . . give hiim the mil] Those WORKERS have more leverage than the Average Workers [ever seen a contract to through a newspaper . . .it is vampiric the thrower has almost all the responsibility but very little in the way of rights and privileges] Hell, how many times have you found yourself doing a job that was not a part of your original job description? Should the Employers do this? It is not in the contract. . . why do they do it????? LEVERAGE they know if u rebel .. they will cut u loose and replace you with someone who will . . .. esp in a tough economy The same folx that say . . . .what Cassel is doing SUCKS ain't willing to pay to watch fricking substandard basketball [see WNBA, NBDL, etc] Rocket River the word for the day is leverage.
Problem is, is that Cassell had a CAREER year last year. So no wonder he is holding out for more money. But the contract he currently has was about right in line with the type of play he has been doing the last few seasons. Cassell IS important to that team! After Garnett he is the second most important player. However you have to be concerned at Cassell's age about injury. I am sure the Wolves and Cassell will work something out. They need to. They have a nice window of opportunity to win a championship right now so they can't get cheap now.
Sam I Am is under contract so he shoul show up no matter what! Havn't these guys heard of work ethics? Its like they are in charge not the owners which is just plain sad if u ask me.
It is my opinion that most employees know their true value. Very few inflate it. They just want to be paid the going rate. If you don't meet that rate they will want to leave or become unproductive. Neither of which are good. So you are better off paying them or you will forced to pay even more money training a new person. Even at inflated prices. That will hold true. Losing Cassell will cost more than it would take to retain his services.
I second this. Sure with Cassell's performance last year he deserves more, but that's why they have contracts...to people from doing things like this. Of course looking at it from our points of view, making over 5 million isn't too bad. I think it all comes back to, you signed the contract and now you need to live up to it. Pugs
No way. He's been getting about 4.5-5 mill per over the past three years, and that is no way in line with his production. He messed up with his contract and it's the bed he sleeps in, and I don't think he should be holding out like this but to say his contract is "right in line with the type of play he has been doing the last few seasons" is just wrong. Here are his numbers from the past few years: 19.8 ppg 7.3 apg 19.7 ppg 5.8 apg 19.7 ppg 6.7 apg 18.2 ppg 7.6 apg 18.6 ppg 9.0 apg That is not the standard production of a guy making 4-5 million a year.
I'll join the chorus. What's more...the contract is guaranteed, and the NBA has pretty good free-agency rights. If he wanted to try his luck at 'market value' he could have let his old contract run its course. As far as pro leagues go, the NBA's does give players some pretty good options when choosing whether to sign. So if you agree to long term, guaranteed money, you should honour the deal. If you prefer to be compensated based on your 'worth' each year...sign a short term deal. Choice is yours.
No they don't. Does Grant Hill want to be paid the "going rate"? Does Mo Taylor want to be paid the "going rate"? Athletes want to be paid for their performance when that performance exceeds the contract. Otherwise, they shut their mouths because they realizes that they're stealing money from the owner. If a player truly wants to always be paid what he's worth, then he'll sign 1-yr deals every offseason to insure that. If you want security of a long term contract, you don't b!tching about it when it prevent you from getting a better deal.
If the Wolves don't want to pay him more they don't have to, he can sit out and not get paid like Gary Payton thought he was willing to do.
At least not accoring to this most recent offseason where people's skills got WAY overvalued. A few years ago when people tightened their pocketbooks that rate was about right. Heck J Howard has similar numbers (rebounds instead of assists) and he got the full MLE which is around 5m per. But that was LAST years FA money.
As I said before, from 1997-2006, Sam will average about $4.2 mill a year. It's his own fault (or maybe his agent's), but in the meantime guys like Terrell Brandon, Kenny Anderson, Jason Williams, Rod Strickland, Andre Miller, Van Exel, Penny Hardaway, Stoudamire, and Bibby have all gotten deals that pay them at least twice as much as Cassell. Even guys like Alvin Williams, Eric Snow, and Howard Eisley have been better paid than Sam. Last year even with the NBA owners tightening pocketbooks, guys like Mike Miller, Rip Hamilton, Dre Miller, and Maggette were still able to score contracts that put Sam's to shame. And speaking of Howard, he will be making almost as much money (only 1 million less) in 6 years as Sam will in that 9 year period. When we're talking about NBA standards, Sam Cassell can't be anything but underpaid.
if cassell wasnt injured during the playoff last season and played well, maybe the wolves wouldnt be so reluctant about an extension. Yes he's underpaid, but he's not the only one. You signed the dotted line, then live with it.
