Xavier Henry still unsigned

Im gonna guess neither of them went over there immediately after being drafted.

clos4life is correct about the restrictions on drafted players.

 

Ferry's draft rights were owned by the Clippers. He left for Europe in his draft year. The Clippers traded his draft rights at the beginning of the season to the Cavaliers. The Cavaliers signed him, the next season.

Childress was a restricted free agent with his player rights owned by the Hawks. He did not want to play for the Hawks. He played in Greece until this year. Atlanta signed and traded him to the Phoenix Suns for a 2nd round pick.

If Henry goes to Europe, Memphis gets nothing. If Memphis wants to turn Xavier Henry's draft rights into something, they will trade his draft rights, or do a sign and trade.

 

It's pretty well known that rookies, especially LOTTERY PICKS, are some of the most underpaid players in the entire NBA. It's pretty absurd that any team don't see this is absurd. It's one thing to penny-pinch, I understand that. It's another to do it for the 12th pick in the draft.

And for all those who say he's not worth a 1st rounder because he's unproven, a question for you guys. Would you trade the 14th pick of the 2010 draft for an unproven rookie PF who has done nothing called Patrick Patterson?

 

Hoopsype is saying Heisely is not willing to trade Henry.

 

what? like you said about Brooks; not for thabeet and henry.
lets give them draft picks and jefferies instead,but not brooks

 

Heisely is not willing to trade Henry until he gets a deal that allows him to trade Henry.

 

Evidently. I can't believe this cat is such an idiot. If we could snap up Henry, I'd be pretty darn excited about it. I certainly wouldn't trade AB for him, though!

 

Trade Henry for Rubio and then the Timberwolves and Grizzlies can say they did something. Then, Rubio signs an extension in Europe and Henry moves to Europe. Then, Heisely can talk about Rubio coming over in 2015.

 

These Are the Incentives?

Written by Chip Crain

Thursday, 19 August 2010 07:40

According to Ron Tillery of the Commercial Appeal, the great holdup between the Memphis Grizzlies and their #1 draft picks boils down to three incentives in the contract. Three little requests for performance for the players to earn 20% more than the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) says is 100% of the amount they should receive. This has created local fan angst, national media ridicule and another black eye for an owner that seems to collect black eyes as trophies.

I know what you are thinking. I was thinking the same thing. These must be tough incentives. The Grizzlies must be asking for the something impossible or at least highly unlikely to reach for the holdout to last this long. Everyone knows that Heisley is supposed to be an unreasonable person but even so this time he surely has crossed the line between tough businessman and irrational, selfish millionaire.

So what are these three ridiculously unfair incentives any way.

As reported by Tillery in the paper the incentives are as follows:

1.Participation in summer league.
2.A two-week workout program with the team's training staff.
3.Satisfying one of the following: play in NBA rookie/sophomore game during All-Star weekend, or earn an all-rookie selection, or average 15 minutes in at least 70 games
This is why Xavier Henry and Greivis Vasquez are refusing to sign their rookie contracts. These three conditions are the difference between a happy family on a potential playoff quality team and the train wreck franchise that actually makes the L A Clippers look stable.

I know people feel I side with the Front Office too much but are these really unreasonable requests?

I mean we are talking about rookies here. Isn't participation in the summer league a requirement? Why should there be bonuses to play in the rookie summer league? I find it rather insulting that this is even listed as something where a bonus was needed to entice the player to show up in the first place. You are a rookie in the NBA. Once you sign your contract attendance at the summer league should be mandatory.

Is a two week workout program with the team's training staff something that deserves a bonus? I would assume once the player signs he would be at the beck and call of the coaches year round. If he wanted to be a great player then he should write into the contract that he gets two weeks OFF from the coaches. After all, how many weeks of vacation did our readers receive the first year they worked after college? I got two weeks and considered that a bonus! This year's rookies are being asked to work for two weeks and they want additional money to do it? I can't believe there is an option where they can refuse some of their pay and not do this work.

Is playing in the summer league and working out with the coaches something that should even be optional for rookies much less bonused for attending? I realize most other teams have been doing this as a matter of business but just because it's always been done this way doesn't mean it makes any sense.

The third catagory is the ONLY one that actually requires the rookies to perform and, in my opinion, to earn more than 100% of the salary slot they aren't unreasonable. Especially not for someone drafted 12th in the lottery in June. I would expect the player drafted 12th in the draft to qualify for the rookie-sophomore game. I would hope that he earns mention among the all-rookie teams. I completely expect both rookies to play more minutes and in more games than Hasheem Thabeet did last year.

After all that's what we are talking about here. Hasheem Thabeet averaged 13 mpg in 68 games last season. For the bonuses to kick in this year's rookies have to play 15 minutes in 70 games. Is there any reason that these rookies should receive more than 100% of what they are entitled to according to the CBA just to perform at or below the level Thabeet did last season?

I don't believe anyone wants to pay the rookies less than what they are entitled but they aren't entitled to max dollars for their draft location. They are entitled to 100%. Bonuses up to an additional 20% are negotiated and frankly the levels being asked for the players aren't unreasonable nor are they unreachable. They are in fact in lline with what Memphis fans are expecting from the players.

So why the hold up?

I believe Arn Telllum has overplayed his hand and is now in a difficult position. At first he assumed that the team would cave in if he embarrassed them by holding out Henry from the summer league. After all most teams routinely give their draft picks the extra 20% eligible them. Why should his client accept less. If you make the team look bad by holding out your client the team will relent and accept the extra money just to get him into camp.

That isn't a concern of Mike Heisley. He understands that summer league success doesn't equate to regular season performance. Since there isn't a direct correlation to playing in summer league and success in the regular season why should Henry's missing the summer league affect his play during the regular season? Heisley is more than willing to allow this situation to fester all summer if needed to make sure that the rookies are motivated to succeed no matter what this means to the team or the fans. It's his team, his money and he has never shown a great concern about what the fans want for the team. He is going to ru the team the way he believes is best and damn the consequences.

Henry's agent Arn Tellum is caught in a tougher situation. He was recently named the best sports agent in the NBA so his credibility is at stake here. If he accepts the Grizzlies offer then other agents will use this fact against him when trying to attract future college players to sign with their agency. If he refuses to accept the contract being offered then he runs the very real risk of doing more harm to his client than the potential loss of pay would affect him. That too would be used against Tellum with potential clients going forward. The longer and more public this issue becomes the more important it will be to Tellum to be seen as winning the negotiation.

So what are Henry's options. If he refuses to accept the Grizzlies offer he can a) sit out the season and re-enter the draft next year, b) sign with a European squad for a short term contract or c) sign with the NBDL for a short term deal.

The first option is fraught with risk since Henry sitting out competitive basketball for a full year will likely damage his reputation around the league. Henry would no longer be the property of the Grizzlies and he would be free to negotiate again with whatever team drafts him. However, he likely wouldn't be a lottery pick next year and the drop in draft position would mean less money and little hope for remaking the lost income on his rookie contract.

If he signs with a European team he could likely receive as much money as the Grizzlies can offer. This would likely be Henry's best option since European leagues are producing NBA talent regularly and the experience would benefit him when he did come over. Also, with a potential lockout looming next summer Henry would be guaranteed some payday in the event there is an extended lockout. The problem is that signing with that the Grizzlies would still retain his rights. He would have to come back to the table with the Grizzlies if he wants to play in the NBA. What's more there is an expression that 'out of sight is out of mind.' Henry would not be seen regularly by NBA execs so a trade for his rights may not be likely if Henry was deadset against signing with the Grizzlies.

Much the same is true with signing in the NBDL but the competition would be less structured in the NBDL and the pay would be dramatically less. To spend a season in the NBDL likely wouldn't help prepare Henry for the NBA as much as Europe would, would involve less money but would keep him in front of NBA scouts increasing the likelihood that a team would step up to the plate to acquire Henry in a trade.

So what does Tellum do? Does he run the risk of costing Henry real money in the hopes the Grizzlies dchange their offer? Does he accept the offer and lose faith with prospective clients in the future? There really isn't a good alternative for Tellum. Either way he could be seen as not operating in his clients best interest.

No matter what happens the other owners in the league are going to watch this develop intensely. If Heilsey is able to force incentives into Henry's contract then you can rest assured it will become more common going forward. If not then it only hurts the Grizzlies and not thier team. The other NBA owners are in a no lose situation. They are the only people that seem to be in a can't lose situation. If Heisley wins this summer then all owners will benefit going forward. If Tellum wins then the Grizzlies lose and it has no effect on the other owners going forward.

And stuck in the middle are the Memphis fans who simply want the best team possible on the court so they have a quality product to support.



http://3sob.com/archives/57-august-2010/1131-these-are-the-incentive

 

Gotta admit, if Xavier Henry doesn't turn out to be as advertised you might look bad on this board after being willing to give the house away for the guy.

 

So the reason for this is partly from the fallout due to the Thabeet pick? Funny.

 

Henry and his agent are only asking for the same type of contract every other rookie for years has signed. If I remember the article correctly in our student paper (KU), only ONE other player in the history of the NBA draft has accepted a contract of this type. Why should either draft pick sign a different contract than every other rookie gets offered. The agent is proving a point, and it's unfortunate for Henry in terms of getting on the court, but this is entirely Memphis' fault. 100% of the blame is on Memphis. It's not just Henry holding out, it's the other draft pick as well.

 

FYI. Daryl Morey negotiated performance bonuses into Donte Greene's rookie contract in order for Donte to get the max 120% of the rookie scale salary.

I think similar provisions are in Tyler Hansbrough's contract.

So I think it's more than just one rookie contract that has similar types of provisions.

 

isnt he saying that every rookie gets the 120%? And that the grizzlies are lowballing the players?