http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/basketball/130756_ollie14.html Ollie to accept five-year contract with Cavaliers By DANNY O'NEIL SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER Kevin Ollie, the Sonics' free-agent point guard, has agreed to accept a five-year, $15 million contract from the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ollie's agent, Bill Neff, would not comment on salary specifics, but did confirm the five-year deal had been agreed upon. The Sonics were one of three final teams in consideration for Ollie. The Milwaukee Bucks' final offer is believed to be for four years at more than $10 million. The Sonics' offer was more than $6 million over three years. Free agents cannot sign contracts until Wednesday but can make handshake agreements before then. Ollie has played with nine teams in his six seasons in the NBA, and this will be the first time he has signed a multi-year, guaranteed contract. Of the three free agents the Sonics wanted to re-sign this summer, Ollie was the only one who is unrestricted, meaning he could pick his destination. The Sonics were the first team to assure Ollie he would be offered a multi-year guaranteed contract, but on Sunday were no longer in the bidding for Ollie. "We were competitive but unfortunately we weren't competitive to the tune of getting it done," Seattle general manager Rick Sund said on Sunday night. Ollie's preference for staying in Seattle was outweighed by the practical considerations that this may be his best chance at the biggest contract for his career. "Seattle interested him (Kevin) a lot for a lot of reasons," Neff said on Sunday. "He likes playing with Ray, he likes the organization, he likes (Howard) Schultz, but when you're in someone like Kevin Ollie's shoes, you don't get that many swings at something like this." Ollie was the only true point guard on the Seattle roster at the end of last season. Seattle used one of its two first-round picks in last month's NBA draft, No. 14 overall, to pick a point guard, Luke Ridnour of Oregon. "Kevin is a great guy, and we couldn't be happier for him if he gets a really good contract," Sund said. The Sonics will now be seeking a backup guard on the free-agent market. The Sonics hosted free-agent guard Antonio Daniels last week, and the team may also be interested in Erick Strickland, Jacque Vaughn and Speedy Claxton. Ollie, 30, averaged 8 points and 3.8 assists in the 29 games he played with the Sonics, but it was his defense and his demeanor that were seen as equally significant assets for the youthful Sonics. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ehh seems too much for a 30 yr old back up........ but then again we gave Minnie the Moocher more
Thats a much, much better move than: Moochie's contract Cato's contract Taylor's contract 3 mil/year is nothing.
rezdawg - it may be a better move than any of those, but it's still way too much for a player of Kevin Ollie's stature. Seattle had the right idea, and Milwaukee's would've been ok, but Cleveland will be stuck with a $3-$4m/yr contract in 4 or 5 years and pay for it dearly.
3 million a year isnt that high for a serviceable player in the NBA. Look through the NBA salaries and you will easily come to the same conclusion. Just for kicks, I looked at the Knicks team. Here are some salaries: Shandon Anderson - 6.7 million next year and 8.5 million in the last year of his contract. Ollie does just as much as Anderson. Charlie Ward - 6.03 million next year. Clarence Weatherspoon - 5.5 million next year. Travis Knight - 4.4 million next year. Othella Harrington - 3 million next year. Its not a big deal to receive a 3 million dollar per year contract. There are about 7-8 players on each roster that make that much money. So, if you are a player that gets about 15-20 minutes per game, its a good bet that you have a contract that pays you 3 million or more per season, unless you have a rookie contract. Thus, if Ollie is expected to contribute more than 15 minutes a game, 3 million dollars isnt that bad.
rezdawg - the Knicks are the worst financial planners in the NBA. While some of those contracts were signed by other squads, the Knicks took them on nonetheless. I don't feel they are a sound example in this case. Yes, about 7-8 players make $3m a year, but that's your starting five plus your top couple of reserves. Is Kevin Ollie good enough to be one of the better reserves on a team? I don't believe so. Even on Cleveland, is he better than DaJuan Wagner and Jumaine Jones? I don't think so. I don't even think he's better than Chris Mihm, making him (in effect) the 9th player on that roster. Is he worth that much money for one of the last bench players? I don't think so. They'd be better served just keeping Smush Parker, who did fairly well in limited time.
mfclark, for one thing, Jumaine Jones is a small forward. Secondly, Wagner is a shooting guard. Therefore, Ollie will be getting significant playing time at the point and thus will be a top 7 or 8 player on the team. Jumaine Jones is the odd man out in that rotation. There is no room for him as they are packed with SF.
rezdawg - I know what they are, but you said the top 7-8 players on the squad, and my point is that Ollie just won't be that, no matter the position he plays. Wagner can and likely will play some point guard off of the bench, further reducing the need for someone like Ollie at such a high rate. Jumaine Jones is by no means an odd-man out. He won't start, but Darius Miles and Ricky Davis can't each play 48 minutes per game. He's the primary backup off the bench and will significant action backuping up both of those players as well as swinging to the 4 spot and backing up Boozer. At PG, they already had a young option in Smush Parker, available for the minimum. He put up similar counting stats to Ollie in just his first season, though he needs work not turning the ball over. However, as a backup, he's more than adequate and a much better deal financially. It's the little moves that add up to push a team into cap purgatory.
As far as me bringing up a "bad example", here is some other news regarding salaries: The Mavs have 9 players making 3 mil or more. Evan Eschmeyer didnt make the list, but he will be making 2.8 million. Thats 10 of the 12 players making 2.8 million or more. I will give you that Cuban doesnt care, but thats not the issue here. The issue is that there are many below average players making a lot of money. Kings have 8 players making 3 mil or more. Funderburke, of all people, makes 3.6 million a year. The Twolves have only 8 players under contract for next year with 6 of them making 3 mil or more. Raptors have 9 players. Lindsey Hunter, who is not better than Ollie, makes 3.3 million a year. I dont feel like going on, but its quite obvious that Ollie should be making between 2-3 million dollars a year. He's probably closer to a player that should be making about 2.5 million a year, but is it really that much more of a mistake to sign him for 3 mil per year? I dont think so.
Jumaine will not be playing the 4 spot when the Cavs have 5 players that have to either play PF or C: Boozer, Ilgauskas, Stewart, Mihm, and Diop. The only room for Jones is either at SG or SF. He will be competing with Miles, James, Davis, and Wagner for those spots. Its unlikely that he will get more than 15 minutes a game, whereas Ollie will definitely get at least 15 minutes a game. Jumaine is the odd man out.
where do you go to find out how much money players are making in each year of their contracts? i know there's that patricia site thing where you can get contract length and total dollar amount but not a breakdown. or is that on their and i just didn't look for it? didn't realgm have a yr by yr breakdown before?
is there a chance there are team options in the latter years of this deal, 3years seem perfect for a reliable back-up, but damn he is 30 now. it is going to be interesting to see how Silas runs the 1,2,3 rotation Lebron, Wagner, Davis and Miles are all going to want major minutes and Ollie is bound to get at least 15mins a game
Silas will definitely have to juggle with these guys. LeBron, Wagner, Davis, and Miles cannot play the point the majority of the time, thus Ollie will have to get his chance to play. Thus, its impossible to give these other 4 guards/forwards the time they want on the court.
Wow... if it's true, Cavs will regret sooner rather than later. It's not just the amount that's the problem, it's the length of the contract. A journeyman type player like Ollie isn't worth more than a 2 year contract or it will soon be a big time cap killer.
rezdawg - all of the players you cited are, in fact, better than Ollie. Lindsey Hunter, even Lawrence Funderburke (who is the victim of a minutes crunch in Sacto) - they're both better than Kevin Ollie. And Jones is a natural swing forward. Why are they going to play Michael Stewart, a PF/C over him? He'll see some minutes at the PF position during the course of the season, though the majority will come at SG and SF. There will be plenty of opportunity for minutes behind Davis and Miles, as Lebron is primarily going to play the point and Wagner will switch between the two positions. And for someone playing 15 minutes a game - that's the exact type of player minimum contracts are for. Look at Milwaukee in the other thread - it's likely they are offering Erick Strickland a much smaller deal than Kevin Ollie received, yet they'll get equal or better production. That's more effective cap management.
I think it is a good pickup and I'm a bit jealous he didn't come to Houston, even for that money. Imo, though the contract is long, Ollie is not a gamble -- you know you'll get your money's worth out of him. Not a big-time playmaker or scorer, but plays good D, gives you good hustle and makes smart decisions on the floor. He's been around; he's a vet. These are qualities that work well in any offensive or defensive philosophy and he won't wilt when the offensive set changes (like Norris or Maloney). Solid pickup. There's a reason he had 12 teams pursuing him.
Lindsey Hunter is not as good as Ollie. Hunter scored 9 points and dished out 2 assists a game while shooting 35% from the field. Hunter can play some defense, but its not nearly as good as Ollie. Regarding Funderburke...Sure, he may have some talent, but is it worth it to dish out millions of dollars to someone that will see 8 minutes of court action a game? Please. Try to find a non-rookie that plays more than 15 minutes a game and earns less than 2.5 million dollars. It will be a tough task. Therefore, Ollie, who played over 25 minutes a game last year, should be deserving of a contract that pays him between 2-3 million dollars. There may have been "better" deals out there that would lead to "better" management. But, Ollie's market price was between 2-3 million per year. The Cavs did not mess this one up.
No it won't. I'll even limit it to playoff teams. Using Patricia Bender's salary information from last season... Boston - Walter McCarty (minimum), Mark Blount ($760k) Dallas - Walt Williams ($1.03m), Raja Bell (minimum), Adrian Griffin (minimum) Detroit - none, but Michael Curry ($2.6m) is close Indiana - Erick Strickland (minimum) LA Lakers - Samaki Walker ($1.5m) Milwaukee - none; all of their rookies are the only ones under the threashold at season's end Minnesota - Troy Hudson ($2m), Radoslav Nesterovic ($2.44m), Kendall Gill (minimum), Rod Strickland (minimum), Gary Trent (minimum) New Jersey - none, though Rogers, Harris, and A. Williams (all under $2.8m) are close New Orleans - Robert Pack (minimum) Orlando - Pat Garrity ($2.35m), Shawn Kemp (minimum), Jacque Vaughn (minimum) Philly - Greg Buckner ($2.4m), Brian Skinner (minimum) Phoenix - none; with only one exception (Scott Williams), all such players are on rookie contracts Portland - none Sacto - Jim Jackson (minimum), Damon Jones misses minutes by 0.5/gm (minimum) San Antonio - Emanuel Ginobili (not on rookie scale; $1.33m), Stephen Jackson ($700k) Utah - Mark Jackson (minimum), Calbert Cheaney (minimum), Scott Padgett (minimum) So, you're telling me you'd rather pay an avg. of $3m/yr for Kevin Ollie than an avg. of even less than that for Troy Hudson? There's few out there who'd do that. All of the players above (24+) make less than Ollie and, in many cases, are better than Ollie. And it doesn't even include the non-playoff squads. From looking at the salary figures, the majority of players who missed the cut are starters, sixth men, or grossly overpaid by their own squads.
