He just cut a check for $12 millon to Rudy T. The problem with the team not being able to sign Posey is because so many bloated contracts were given out like the Moochie, Maurice, and Cato contract. It's arguable that Steve is even deserving of the max contract when he can't outplay non max-contract point guards like Bibby or Nash. His market value was bloated at the time of his signing too. Les Alexander is cheap? He is not. He bought the franchise for REAL MONEY. Everyone who buys a business wants to make money. If he makes 10% off his investment per year, that's just a decent return.
No Leslie is not stupid, he is cheap. You on the other hand... Let's go over again: Here's what should have been done: 1. We match on Posey: $4.9M 2. We sign Antonio Daniels with half the MLE: that's $2.5M 3. We dump Rice and sign JJ: $2.3M Total: $9.7M this year Instead we signed: 1. Piatkowski: $2.5M 2. JJ: $2.3M 3. A. Griffin: $700K Total: $5.5M So Leslie saved freaking $4.2M, but instead of having legit players like AD and Posey we have Piatkowski and A. Griffin who is really no upgrade over J-Hawk Dude makes $15M a year off you and me, sees his property value go up by $23M, gets a sweet deal on the Toyota Center, has the biggest marketing phenome in the world (Yao) on his team and can't spare freaking $4.2M to make the team a contender??? Who is stupid? He or you?
Should Les have signed Shaq this past summer for 40 million? Even though Shaq was not a FA, and even though there's a salary cap that would restrict him? I don't get the idiot fans who say Les is cheap. What the hell can he do to increase payroll, if the cap won't let him sign guys? The same guys who say Les is cheap, seem to be the ones who are glad that he re-signed Francis to the max. Can someone name me a high-priced FA we lost due to Les' frugality? I just can't stand fans who have no concrete reason to hate a player or coach. If you have a reason, then go ahead. Until then, I'd stay hush, or you look really foolish.
It's ironic that you ask who is stupid, because you seem to forget about the luxury tax, something that has affected just about every team but Por, Dal, and NY. So by your logic, there are 26 stupid/cheap owners out of 29.
We are banking on what we don't have now? We can still get Antonio Daniels, just have to make the TE work or sign him to a min but promise him more next season. So in the grand scheme of things, it would be: 1. Pike 2.5 mil 2. JJ 2.2 mil 3. AG 700K 4. MJ 600K 5. AD 1.5 mil for a total of 7.5 mil. In which case Les saved a grand total of 2 FREAKIN' million. That is based on the ASSUMPTION that Daniels wants to come here. Let's examine all the ASSUMPTIONS. Did Sheed said he was gonna come here? Boy Les is a cheap b*stard not dishing out, he saved 17 million, DAMN HIM. Did Shard also want to come here? Another 7 million. Weren't we gonna trade EG for SAR last season, that's another 13 mil saved (SAR's 14.5 - EG's 1.5). Boy you're absolutely right. Based on ASSUMPTIONS Les is the cheapest owner not named Donald Sterling. You also showed that you have absolutely NO CLUE in regards of accounting, finance and economics. A moron calling somebody else stupid, that's a first.
Les was an investment banker prior to owning the team. Drayton McLane is the second largest shareholder in the Wal-Mart chain.
Jeff, are you sure? I thought Les was a bond trader, and McLain owned a trucking company (that serviced Wal-Mart).
That is so not right. Equity value is not income! Equity + Debt = Asset. Basketball, I may not be an expert. Finance, I know.
Actually, Assets = Liabilities + Owner's Equity, you're absolutely right about that. I just had a mental lapse, goofed. Too much beer I guess. However, I still think current value is assets - liabilities. Think about this: the team is worth 278 mil this year, which grew 9%. So that means it was worth about 255 mil last year. We have two sections in Owner's Equity, Capital Stock (which Les put in originally) and Retained Earnings, which is the income. As you can see, the income (therefore Retained Earnings) was 15.2 mil, not the 23 mil (278 - 255) difference. Inflation (1.5% last year) would contribute to another 3.8 mil, still not covering the difference. I also think our payroll didn't increase too much from last year either (increasing both assets and liabilities). The only explaination I can think of is if Les invested more money into the team, thus increasing the Capital Stock and therefore, Owner's Equity (assets as well). If that were true, this would at once dispell the myth that Les is a cheap b*stard. However, without looking at the team's financial statements (or at least, the Statement of Retained Earnings), we simply don't know if that were true. We in fact, don't know jacksh*t about Les' profit margin from the team. So in all practical purposes, I think my first assessment of current value was correct. Although I must say that this article is abysmal from an accounting and finance point of view. I think it is either used to merely serve as an overview or just to stoke those without too much knowledge of accounting and finance (see kayman).
Ha ha ha. Hey cannoner, after I sobered up you know what I realized? You and I were talking about the same thing. I said current value was assets - liabilities. You said current value was equity, which is assets - liabilities. So you confused me then I confused you. Nice way to take advantage of a drunk man you lil' weasle.
