Everyone knows how it works. 1)You trade a player to a team that doesn't want or need him. 2)Said player asks to be bought out and released. 3)Player returns to tram that traded him and signs for the minimum. San Antonio i believe did it Brent Berry a few years ago Dallas tried to do it with Stackhouse but the league sniffed it out. It looks like the Cavs are about to get BLOCKED by the league. http://twitter.com/MHeislerLATimes I think this is a great thing to do. Thoughts?
Yeah, just saw these pop up on my Twitter: ChrisMannixSI (http://twitter.com/ChrisMannixSI): - If the NBA bans Z from going back to the Cavs, the union is going to throw a fit. Unless they show evidence Z and Cavs had prearranged... - ...a deal to re-sign Z, they are going to be in for a bitter fight if they try to stop it. - Said it before, the only solution is to make them playoff ineligible. They would still get their money and rest of league would be protected WojYahooNBA (http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA) - Agent for Ilgauskas, Herb Rudoy, tells Y! he's talked with WIz on Z buyout over weekend and "I'm hopeful to have it done Monday or Tuesday." - Rudoy insists no pre-arranged deal to return Z to Cavs (of course) and NBA hasn't called or emailed to probe him on any such accusation. - Mark Heisler of LA Times is reporting that NBA has informed other teams that it won't let Z return to Cavs after a buyout. - More Rudoy: "Zee does not want to go to Washington and knows there are plenty of good teams that want to sign him...He will take his time."
yeah i hope they stop it. It should just be disallowed. I don't care if there's some legitimate situation where they didn't agree to it beforehand.. if you get traded from a team, happen to get bought out, and then suddenly realize "hey i could go back to my old team"...then too freakin bad, they shouldn't have traded you in the first place. They should be SOL Though I do believe that it's agreed upon every time it happens
WojYahooNBA (http://twitter.com/WojYahooNBA) Just as FYI: A player can return to the team that traded 30 days after a buyout, but there can't be a pre-arranged deal to so.
You know, while I think this practice generally stinks to high heaven, I'm not so sure that I would change the rules to expressly forbid traded and bought out players from returning to their original teams. Yes, if evidence can be shown that a pre-arranged deal was in place, that is reprehensible and anti-competitive. The league does not want any sort of anti-competitive practices going on. But on the flip side, the player would be looking for a situation in which he fits best. He would already know his original team's system, has the best chance of getting playing time with that team, and most importantly, that is often where he and his family live. Plus, Zydrunas Ilgauskas would not be the right player to make an example of with this "rule change" (which technically can't be changed until after the season). Big Z is Cleveland's all-time leader in games played. He is a staple in that town. Forbidding him from returning would just seem wrong to me. In the end, I don't think the league will do anything. Ilgauskas will make visits to Atlanta and Dallas (both of whom have made inquiries about his availability) before eventually returning to Cleveland. And I'd be fine with that.
I don't know if it matters that much. In the end, the kind of guys who go back are generally veteran role players like Z who is not of much use for his new team and whose contract is about to expire anyway. That said, if Z can't go back to Cleveland, I'd like to see him signed with the Rockets, if for no reason other than to take a look at how the team might work with a Yao-like big center. And we also all know that the Rockets can uses some size to challenge shots under the rim.
I think the league should not allow players that do this on an original teams Playoff roster. That should fix this mess.
While I'm not necessarily saying that it should be prohibited, it is a VERY big deal. It allows a team to make a trade for a big-time player from a salary-dumping team. Sure, Big Z is just a role player right now. But he's got the salary of a star. Cleveland used that salary to obtain another star player in Jamison. That's no small deal.
Yes, there is a loophole. Yes, it goes against the intention of the rule. But there is no official rule against it. It would be incredibly stupid for the NBA to do this unless they have legitimate evidence of tampering. They've let it happen several times already, and to suddenly chase this would be even more dubious. The NBA should make a real rule against this if they really want to stop it. There is no other way. Otherwise accept it.
The salary matching regime is made to ensure that a team can't increase its own salary by more than a reasonable margin in any trade-- nor would a team be able to dump salary for the immediate year (as to the following years) in a trade, other than the "non-guaranteed contract" situation. This way, a rich team will have a harder time just straight up eating a ton of salary for good players (they still can, but it's gotta be next year's salary) and really unbalancing the salary cap situation. I don't think the "Z-Scam" contradicts that. A Z-buyout/waiver means that WAS still pays his salary, except for a very small discount. When he signs back, it's likely only for the vet minium, not adding much to CLE's salary. I really don't see how the "salary equalizing" purpose of the CBA is challenged by this "scam"
I believe this scheme is wrong. I doubt the NBA will try to stop it. If they do, it will be after Zeke returns to the Cavs.
Its kind of dumb. Cavs Wan't Illgauskas, Wizards wanted to get rid of Jamison -- the teams made a deal so they can each get what they want. NBA says no, teams shouldn't be able to get what they want... I realize its not as simple as that, but when you break it down that way its just stupid.
