crzymdups wrote:
the nets could officially screw us on david lee.

they could frontload a deal with a $20M first year payment.

20M? So David Lee does not need to adhere to the salary cap max?

knicks1248 wrote:knick fans are the only ones being cheap

i think what's happening is that GMs are panicking because there are so many teams with cap room out there. they're overpaying to get their guys early before the 4 teams with double max room learn what happens with lebron and start chasing the second and third tier guys.

knicks face the unappetizing realization that by the time they learn lebron isn't coming, there might not be anyone left on the market. at all.

seriously, how long til mike miller signs? when someone offers him $50M tomorrow?

Andrew wrote:I don't understand how a team was going to offer Gay $20M in the first year. Can anyone explain?

"Rudy, we're offering you $20 million for the first year. Whaddaya think?"

martin wrote:Grizz have committed to offering Rudy the Max, has Rudy committed to signing it?

apparently yes.

http://www.nba.com/news/features/aldridge.2010.freeagency//?ls=iref:nbahpt1

Gay spurns others, re-signs with Griz for $82 million

Posted Jul 1 2010 3:05PM

-Two sources have told me that the Memphis Grizzlies are going to make the first major move in the Summer of 2010 free-agent bonanza by taking their emerging star small forward and restricted free agent Rudy Gay off the market, agreeing to terms with Gay on a five-year deal that could be worth about $82 million.

The surprise decision came as Gay was prepared to start visiting teams Thursday. Gay had scheduled a visit Thursday afternoon in Minnesota with the Timberwolves, who had make no secret of their interest in the 23-year-old. But the Grizzlies contacted Gay's agents Thursday morning and said they now would be willing to match any offer sheet another team gave him. Gay then cancelled his trip to Minnesota.

The Grizzlies' decision came after owner Michael Heisley consulted with general manager Chris Wallace and other team officials. Memphis decided it made more sense to just pay Gay rather than wait for another team to come forth with an offer sheet that would have almost certainly included a front-loaded salary structure and signing bonus designed to make it harder for Memphis to match. Such front-loaded deals usually have language that forces the team looking to retain its player to write a huge up-front check for most of the player's first-year salary in the new deal.

Once Memphis made its offer, there was no incentive for him to look elsewhere, as the most any other team could offer him would be a five-year deal for around $78 million.

"I think Rudy likes Memphis a lot," a team source said Thursday, "and I think we were in a position to make the best offer to him. All of that helped us a lot ... if Rudy puts his mind to it he can be a real franchise player--if he puts his mind to it and brings that focus that people like LeBron (James) and Kobe (Bryant) have every night."

Gay averaged 19.6 points per game last season for Memphis, shooting a career-best 46.6 percent from the floor, helping keep the Grizzlies in the playoff chase until the final weeks of the regular season. He became Memphis' team leader and the club thought it was important to keep its core group of Gay, guard O.J. Mayo and center Marc Gasol together as long as possible.

The move is a major blow to teams that had cleared out maximum cap space in order to sign free agents. While Gay was not on the same tier as James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he was a fall-back in case teams strike out with the top group of free agents, with several teams prepared to make offers. Gay's departure from the board means one less quality player will be available, especially one as young and with as much still-untapped potential as he has.

Andrew wrote:The max signing bonus allowed is 20% of the total contract. That amount is spread over each year of the contracts guaranteed years. No way that adds up to 20M in the first year.

I think there is some confusion. Paying him 20 million just means paying him money from his overall max contract contract in the first year. This is the same as the way Portland structured Milsap's payments to include a large sum paid in the first year.

Remember the Knicks paid Curry some of his contract money early. It's the same thing.

all i can say is thank heaven there is a salary cap or else lebron would now command $1,000,000,000,000,000...dont even know what that adds up to but it's alot of friggin' dough!

Allanfan20 wrote:LOL! These owners are not helping their cause for the upcoming CBA discussions. Way to set the standard. lmao

they will just cry poverty and demand contracts be only 50% gaurenteed. and the players will fold cuz they have a crummy union

http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/01/at-negotiating-table-grizzlies-opt-for-quick-defeat/

Some reports argue that the team feared Gay would sign a front-loaded offer sheet that would give Gay a $20 million salary in his first year. Those fears are completely overstated. The teams with space, as mentioned, are chasing a bigger fish. LeBron reportedly won't make a decision until Monday, July 5. And if a franchise had tried to turn Gay's contract toxic, as Portland did with Paul Millsap last summer, Memphis would have been in prime position to take it without much pain. The Grizzlies are in no danger of drifting deep into luxury tax territory; furthermore, the signing bonus clause used to facilitate these front-loaded deals spreads the cap/tax pain over the length of the contract, which means a front-loaded deal would have count as $14 million on the cap/tax ledger, just as the deal Gay will sign does.

and if this is correct, why would a team ever just offer a max deal to a player like Gay instead of letting the market dictate the price?