Just throwing it out there as a label that deserves to stick. We've all had a girlfriend like this at one time or another. Do you love me? Really? Prove it. Prove it again. You betrayed me! You treated me like a cheap prostitute! Do you love me? How much do you love me? If you really love me, you'll do this. If you really love me, you'll do that. If you really love me, you'll marry me, but you'll sign this pre-nup that says I can leave you. Oh, I love you. Oh, I want to be with you. Oh, I -- wait, I found somebody who loves me more. No hard feelings! For LeBron, you'd put up with this melodrama. But for Mike? C'mon.
"queen James" Classic !!! gotta work in some more Anchorman quotes on this one...they fit too perfect Clutch Fans to Mike James this past weekend... Clutch Fans after the "announcement"... Cluthc Fans today and from now on!
I agree Will that it does seem like a lot for someone like that, but before dumping "her", you have to consider what the alternative is when considering the remaining eligibles.
Queen James shall live in infamy. Brilliant! He is never to be referred to as "Mike" around here again.
Will, as much as I'd love to agree with you here, the bottomline is that we really are that desperate. I mean, where do we go from here? I don't even really like Mike James that much, but we really don't have any alternatives. If we are going to wait a year fine, but there's no guarantee next offseason either. According to 82games.com Mike James: Last season fair salary - 9.62 million +2.7 net +/- rating The season with us - +9.6 net +/- To put some perspective on this... Battier: Last season fair salary - $10.54 million +8.5 net +/- rating What does this tell me? Battier was definitely underrated, but Mike James is not far off statistically. Essentially, this is akin to losing Rudy Gay and Stromile two times. Our other options out there? Marcus Banks - Fair Salary - $1.05 million, -1.9 +/- Trevor Ariza - $.93 million, 4.1 +/- (but only played 7% of the minutes) Jared Jeffries - $2.32 million, 1.3 +/- Fred Jones - $1.72 million, -3.5 +/- Flip Murray - $1.83 million, 2.4 +/- Deshawn Stevenson - $.89 million, -10.6 +/- stay away from him So now we are down to Vassilis Spanoulis, and I don't blame management for looking in that direction, however, considering Mike James' fair value, I don't think Mike is wrong in wanting teams (especially us for having traded him to begin with) to roll out the carpet for him when offering the MLE. What struck me was in his lashings out towards the organization on the Toronto radio station, he talked about how we didn't even take him out to a steak dinner, or try to butter him up at all. I personally find this inexcusable. I also find bargaining with James stupid, when he is essentially the best bargain on the table even with everything. Even if we gave him the kicker, he's still far under his true value, and his desire to opt out isn't unreasonable.
I really don't think that it is too much to get a steak dinner, but he sounds more like he wanted us to get out the knee pads. Instead, he just bent us over.
Look bottomline is, he is taking a 4 million dollar paycut by value. He is also the only FA of his kind on the market. Any intelligent suitor would have realized that the girl was worth the trouble, especially considering the alternatives (Clutch's picture) out there.
No here's the bottom line... Mike James had no intention of signing with Houston. He played us. If he wanted to be here, why would he make a last second, unreasonable demand knowing we'd hiccup at it. Then 15 minutes later announce he's going to Minny. Get over it. Mike James is gone and he's a little b!tch. This might be a blessing in desguise. We'll see.
Unreasonable? How is it unreasonable to ask to match an offer from another team? If you are wanted by two companies, one you were fired from and the other who wants you, you still want to go back to the original company, and the other offers you a deal that guarantees that you won't be fired, which one would you take? I would be mad at the company that fired me too.
We did match the offer. James asked for the kicker as the very last thing in negotiations ...it never came up. Nobody has trade kickers and I'm sure his agent knew that. He asked for something he knew he wouldn't get as an excuse to stick it to us. Before we traded him, he said publicly that we was looking to get paid after his contract was up. I'm POSITIVE that was a factor in why we traded him in the 1st place. And now he has already said he is underpaid in Minny and will opt out after 3 years? He's a little b!tch. Get over it.
So a dude with a fair salary of 9.62 million is not underpaid? Also, "nobody has trade kickers", well he does now. Look, I don't doubt that Bill Duffy did some shady things, and that Mike James may have used us as leverage. However, I don't doubt that his desire to return was sincere. The very fact that expressed so much displeasure in our dealings with him show that this was perhaps the greatest factor in his decision. He didn't get more money in Minnesota, but he got "loyalty" Garnett saying he needs him, a starting role, and everything else. In terms of getting over it, I will, but for now, I just don't see any alternatives, and I think by looking at the statistics I have pulled out on the other FA's, there really aren't any that fit in a "win now" mentality. In short, I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel.
Being "fired" (or traded) is part of life in the NBA. It comes with the territory. 7 teams in 6 seasons says it all about MJ for me. If being traded makes him so mad he must be full of hatred.
