There sure are a lot of good things happening for the Rox this offseason. I don't remember an offseason quite this good in a long, long time. the Rox will have a very stable lineup for years to come. the Rox are setting themselves up for Yao and Tracy to possibly end their careers here. the next best thing that can happen is a championship this year to bind it all together.
C'mon, people. We all know Yao is going to L.A. once his current contract expires. Why else would the Fakers be saving all that cap space?
Word out of LA is that the Lakers and Phil Jackson are now saving up for the year 2010 as part of their new "7 year plan."
My source says they are actually saving for the year 2030 to lure Yao Jr. who the Lakers scouts predict will be 8 feet 400 lbs with a 46 inches vertical.
Does this mean Yao gets a raise to 15M his last year of his present contract and then his extension kicks in? I don't see the sense in signing an extension now if the CBA limits the # of years to 5 at max money if he doesn't get max money this season.
a. yao will get paid this year whatever his current contract says (5M or so). that's why it's an extension and not a renegotiation. b. the year after (06-07), he will start making max money. c. if he waited a year, he would also start making max money that season (06-07). either way, he plays under his rookie contract this year and starts making max money the next season. this just gets him locked into guaranteed max money right now instead of risking waiting a year. the trade off is that he only gets guaranteed max money 5 years into the future instead of waiting and getting 6 years. but that's a small price to pay for being locked into max money right now. a bird in the hand vs 2 in the bush so to speak. d. the lakers aren't worried about this, they're getting kg. they aren't taking high risk-high potential guys like kwame and bynum and getting all these expiring contracts for guys like yao/amare/dirk. they may claim they are and their fans may think they are, but they understand how max extensions work and they know all these guys will be locked up. they're doing it for kevin garnett. it all makes sense. first of all, LA always seems to have superstars. west, chamberlain, baylor, magic, kareem, worthy, shaq, kobe, etc. they're bound to get another one. after minny flounders again this year, kg will be pissed and want out and minny will not only have to acquiesce, but probably want to since they aren't getting anywhere anyway and need to start over. kg will probably want to go to LA b/c they have a superstar already and it's LA. LA will have odom for talent and helping contracts match, then they'll need kwame and/or bynum to dangle as future potential to help rebuild minny, and then they'll have some expiring contracts (the ones that expire in two years will be expiring by the time the trade happens) around if minny has any other dead weight they'd like to get rid of. possibly szczerbiak's massive contract, but that's probably too much talent to get rid of for minny. throw in some picks and other filler and voila. if it happens, lamar odom would be able to say he was traded for shaquille o'neal and kevin garnett in his career. not too bad.
^^ Could be. But why would Minny trade him to LA and keep him in the west. They would rather trade him to east. Now you can say Garnett asking a trade only for LA, but i just don't see KG doing that. I think he would simply ask for a trade where he would feel comfortable.
Kevin Garnet wants to win, I give you that. But, I don't know how you made the leap to Kevin Garnet will want to win in LA. If anything Garnet is headed to the East [likely to the Knicks].
Small price to pay? he left 15M on the table. I would have waited, I can see the Rox being in a rush but still don't see why Yao needed to be in such a rush, if he waited he could have got his 6 year deal. I think the risk for any player is when their max deals expire, they usually sign for a lot less ie Stoudamire, SAR, so to sign a max deal for as long as you can get it makes more sense than signing a max deal for a year less.
Not necessarily. You have a better chance to sign another max or close-to-the-max deal when you are a year younger when your current max deal expires.
