ShaneBattier Shane Battier Getting mad love from Grizz nation, Heat nation, Thunder nation and Rocket nation. Let free agency begin!!! Thanks y'all! A return of the Bat-Man?
This "two and thru" crap will ONLY improve the college game. The sooner the Lebrons get to the league the better. Do you think he would have led his team to the finals in his second season? Nope. The good young players just accelerate their development in the NBA, instead of toiling with mediocre competition in college. I wish they would just drop the age requirement back to 18. I really don't understand how Rockets fans could support this. The more time we see these guys in college the less there is left to good scouting. The cream will rise to the top and middling teams will never have a chance at a star, since there will be no star players left towards the middle of the first round.
Are you kidding me? Lebron is the most gifted player to walk on this court outside of shaq, probably more though and that is why he is such a huge success. He is the biggest athletic freak I have ever seen. That said, it took him almost 6 years to get a reliable mid range and perimter game, and he is just now understanding perimter defense outsid of high light blocks, and just starting to be a decent free throw shooter. He was missing some incredible fundamentals but was able to get by because he is one of the most impressive athletes to be on the court. NBA is the finished product, the last line, not a development league. I don't want to see leabron force fed the ball his rookie year as his team stunk and he put up stats at the cost of beign really inefficient and thus holding the franchise to a whole year of development. SAme with Kobe, Kevin garnett, all had subpar first years and were force fed and not ready. Same with bynum and whoever else, they were all going to be stars everyone knew, so the nba became a development league bc you cant pass up their future. Let the coaches and the college game refine their understanding, their shooting etc. They willstill grow in the league but they will come out better decision makers on the court, more of an understanding, and better fundamentals.
Last season the escrow was 8%. New escrow is 10%. I can't find any other changes from the old system. It seems to be a flat 10% every year. Previous CBA was 10% http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/7283065/sources-nba-owners-relented-several-key-issues Here is the old escrow system: http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q15 Here is what happened. Last season, the owners underpaid the 57% BRI by 26 million. They returned all the escrow and an additional 26 million, because players were paid only 56.3 of BRI. If there are no additional changes to the escrow system besides the percentage escrowed, here is what the results would be under the 10% escrow. $3.817 B BRI 51% Designated percentage of BRI(It's actually a band between 49-51%) $1.947 B Designated percentage amount $2.013 B Salaries $136.8 M Benefits 10% Salaries held in escrow(%) $201.3 M Amount held in escrow $202.8M Overage (underage) -- amount salaries & benefits exceeded designated percentage $201.3 M Overage amount retained by NBA $0 Remainder of escrow given to players 51.04% BRI percentage paid(after adjusting for overage) $1.5 M Amount of salaries exceeding 51% BRI(after adjusting for overage) If the system is kept the same with only the 10% escrow change, the players do have a chance to exceed 51% slightly.
LeBron is even more gifted than Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain? How did Shaq get better than these other guys?
RicBucher Ric Bucher As our man BWindhorst has detailed, this deal is tailor-made for Heat: via amnesty, mid-level, etc., they should add another quality player.
Yes, you do realize what Gifted means right? Lebron has more natural athleticism in that he ha the body of a PF, karl malone type, but with the speed and quickness of a Guard. I don't hold him to ah igh regard bc as I said, I think he is the most gifted player in the history of the game, but I do not think he is the greatest, this says something about his dedication, approach, and work ethic MJ was athletic, but there were players who were athletic like he was in dominuque and clyde, but he took it to another stratosphere with his concentration, work ethic, and commitment to improving and perfecting his skill and awareness. Similarly you see kobe like that in approach, but lesser in level of acheivment. Magic johnson is a big guy, but he is not espeically quick or athletic, his understanding of the game and skill is what sets him apart as is with Larry bird Shaq with his sheer size, agility was one of the other most unique forces who didn't squeeze out as much as he can, but like lebron is so gifted in athleticism and was still a good player mind you that they can acheive hall of fame status just with this
Jordan wasn't even picked no.1. I think wilt was probably the most gifted and maybe shaq would be two. Lebron was what 6-8 240 in highschool with the speed and quickness of any guard. There are gaurds comparable to Jordan in terms of athleticism. Look at drexler dunk. There is no one comparable to lebron.
I think you overestimate the players' BRI %. I believe the Year 1 BRI will be 50%. That means that the overage will be much larger. The players will get a major (relative) windfall in Year 1 and probably Year 2 of the new CBA, with the true ramifications of the steep decrease in BRI not being felt by the players until Year 3.
Lebron still doesn't have a great mid-range game, he still doesn't have a post up game....but, he's one of if not the best player in the league. You think he would have become some great shooter in college? He would have been just like Carmelo Anthony or Tyreke Evans, he would have dominated the competition there with his physical gifts. He would have progressed in that time but nowhere near as fast as he did in the NBA, playing against the best players in the world every night. And, you act as if 20 and 21 year old rookies are leading teams to the finals. They struggle in their rookie seasons too. If a team doesn't want to be burdened with developing a teenage phenom then don't, draft a 21 yr old. The option to draft on potential is what give good scouts/management an edge. Why do you want to take that away?
While Hakeem was especially athletic and quick, a HUGE part of his success was his footwork which is more of a skill than a gift earned by his foundation as a soccer player. Wilt was giften in the context of his time as he was just bigger than everyone else. Lebron and Shaq remain the most gifted of all time, once again, does not mean they are the best of all time, in fact it is a testimony that they are not in their approach and priorities. See the other article I posted on shaq's take on lebron, wade, and kobe where he talks about kobe's approach being more scientific, methodical, more dedicated etc. Kobe is not more gifted, but like Michael his approach, dedication to skill and learning the game made him a better player than these guys and he was able to acheive more this way.
agree 100%. players would improve their game much more coming to the pros playing against the best of the best than staying another year against inferior players.
Lebron has the body of an extremely strong PF, Karl Malone type almost. He HAs the speed, quickness of a PG and he has the vertical of an athletic wing. Physically, lebron is near flawless. It is his attitude and approach that are lacking, even without 110 percent dedication, just his gifts and the awareness he does have makes him a player hard to deal with
