Posted by purple012870:
a) he didn't nix the Memphis deal
b) his agent told him he wouldn't sign long term w/ Memphis
a & b = big difference & he had every right to do this
c) Lee has character, something about 12 other Knick players lack
Not sure what you're saying here. You're kidding yourself if you think Lee's agent is gonna do or say anything w/o consulting him first. That's first of all. Just on sheer principle if agents went around doing that, they'd be on the street looking for a job the very next day. Esp. with Lee's guy - what kind of a commitment do you think he really has with this guy? He hasn't even gotten him his first big contract yet... Point is, they heard the rumor (they were prob. contacted by Memphis themselves at some point direct, wouldn't surprise me), they discussed it (guarantee his agent didn't poo-poo this right away - forget
Jerry McGuire , these agents are driven by money alone & the Grizz. were discussing locking him up long-term - never kid yourself here) and it was Lee's call to squash it. Lee can act aloof & say that it was his agent that took over the conversation all he wants, we know better... You can't convince me otherwise.
And my whole original point with this a few weeks ago was that I just don't feel like he's earned the right to put the kibosh on anything and our organization missed out on a chance to get better. I'm sorry. That was my initial gut reaction and I still feel like that today. Pretty good player, nice guy, but the fact of the matter is he's a role player who hasn't been in the league that long at all. And remember, to bring the real world into play here for a sec, we're not talkin' a regular middle class dude like you guys or myself, we're talkin' a millionaire who's on the cusp of becoming a multi-millionaire. So that part of the argument - "if it were you and your company moved and you didn't want to go...blah, blah...." holds no water in this situation at all for me. How 'bout you just be happy to be in the NBA and, if ever traded, you go where you go until you're in the position to earn youself the right to do otherwise - i.e. you become a free agent and/or you eventually put in enough time in the league to earn youself some kind of a no-trade clause. There's a reason no-trade clauses aren't built into rookie contracts, no matter how good the player is. Now having said that, I think it was kind of noble of him in a way to tell them up front that he didn't plan on ever signing there long-term - I mean in a way it would be kinda grimmy to get traded to Memphis, they surrender their 5th pick in the process, he initially acts like he wants to be there, then all of a sudden he bolts when he's a FA. But hey, then again, Lee's thinking about himself and his lifestyle here first and foremost. The flip side here is that when he is a FA, Memphis, if they like him that much, should've ponyed up and showed him the money. And that's what I would've expected them to do - after all they were ready to deal the 5th pick in the draft to get him. It's a business and Memphis understands that. It's up to Memphis to sell that city and organization to Lee in the meantime. We're in the process of doing that now ourselves by clearing cap room in order to make ourselves attractive enough to potential FAs. Maybe Memphis would've been the one to eventually throw 50 mil. out on the table like his agent arrogantly thinks he can get, where nobody else would've. Then what? I tell you what, if that's the case, then all of a sudden Lee's thinking Memphis ain't that bad a place to play that's what! Funny how JR Smith isn't getting any calls this summer so far for his services like he thought. Memphis was gonna take care of Lee financially long-term....
He and his agent nixing this just didn't feel right to me. I just don't feel like he's earned the right to have an affect on a potential trade outcome like that yet. But, hey, that's me. I mean, did Javaris Crittenton nix Pau Gasol to the Lakers because he didn't want to go to Memphis???? And this whole buying tickets for people, yeah it's cool but come on, you know there's a certain amount of damage control involved in that decision.
Bottom line is this - Mayo should be a Knick and a role player, who has intangibles but could be replaced by any number of players (I gave names like Justin Williams and Louis Amundson as instant replacements we could've added on the cheap), squashed it. And I'm pissed! When it comes down to crunch time in 2010/2011 you think playing with OJ Mayo might've had an affect on a LeBron James coming here? You think 'Bron would've looked at Mayo as his Scottie Pippen with a chance to really do something on the NBA's biggest stage? Hummmmm... Oh well, we'll never know now.....
[Edited by - finestrg on 07-20-2008 1:59 PM]
