Friggin' A man... Friggin' A... I knew this was coming down the road. This is why I've been saying that we should have used the expirings to get a big time player. Maybe we can use an Al/Lee combination to get Melo still. Oy...

Agents Encouraging 2010 Free Agents To Sign Extensions?

Mar 10, 2009 6:00 AM EST

Agents for potential 2010 free agents are starting to consider urging their clients to sign contract extensions this summer rather than taking a chance in free agency, Sam Smith writes on his blog on bulls.com.

The reason? The faltering economy. And the chance of change with the Collective Bargaining Agreement being re-opened.

"I'd think every prudent representative would be sitting down his guys and explaining there could be a lockout, a new CBA (collective bargaining agreement), and there's always the injury component," said former agent and Chicago based attorney George Andrews. "That maybe it's time to lock in security now. I don't see the CBA going up in any shape or form. You are unlikely to get more years than you can now and there's a pretty good chance the maximum salary would go down in a new CBA. You might even (with an extension this summer) get some language so you'd get paid if there is a lockout, something of a tradeoff for extending now. And from a team standpoint, you could tie up your best guy and he would not be any more difficult to trade if you wanted to go that way."

"If you can get the current (contract) rates and increases allowed, and then maybe you get a trade kicker, which might not be in a new CBA," offers Andrews. "The way things were going everyone thought the cap would be in the $60 million (range). Now maybe it's in the mid or low 50's. It will make it harder for teams to get cap room and sign (a second) guy because you won't (being under the salary cap) have your mid level exception. You'd be cannibalizing your team (to sign a big free agent)."

"And then if you are (as a player) going somewhere, you have to ask yourself, 'Is it better there than it is here?'" Andrews said. "You might be able to retool after a year or two, but how does that help a guy's legacy to go somewhere and not be able to compete. The next step for someone like LeBron for more endorsements is to win a championship. Then he'd be even more valuable. How would going somewhere and being mediocre for two years while you try to build around him help?"

"From a security standpoint and everything else, it makes a lot of sense to extend now," said Andrews. "You don't know what will happen if there's a new CBA. It wouldn't shock me to see Billy Hunter enter into something next season as he sees how bad things can get, maybe make a new deal before things bottom out. And his concern has to be not five or six guys, but the players as a whole. Who knows? Maybe the owners will want to get rid of the mid level and he can get a jump on that by giving them relief a year earlier and save some things.

"The maximum is correlated to the cap," Andrews noted. "And the cap is going down. Stern already has said that. How in the world would you expect to get more money with the cap going down, the numbers of years (likely) curtailed? Nobody could have anticipated this."

Can we have a "beating a dead horse" icon implemented on this site ? I'd love to post one up right about now.

This Lebron thing is media driven. We live everyday on a rabid Knicks website and when was the last time you saw a "when we get Lebron" thread.

For 7 years people whined about getting the bad contracts off the books regardless of who the free agents are. Donnie does exactly that, while also putting us in position to have a chance(even if its .0000001%) to obtain Lebron or DWade etc. And somehow as a fan base we are so beaten down by the past 7 years, that we are actually upset by it. We are in position to get a top free-agent, or even a good 2nd tier free agent. We have rid ourselves of the cancerous and soon will be rid of the lazy. We have nothing but short term contracts and young players that can help us here or be used in trade.

Despite all this, for some reason the drum is still being beaten that it is "Lebron(insert free agent name) or bust". The media is ridiculous. Some fans are ridiculous. It's all rigoshdamndiculous.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by Bippity10:

This Lebron thing is media driven. We live everyday on a rabid Knicks website and when was the last time you saw a "when we get Lebron" thread.

For 7 years people whined about getting the bad contracts off the books regardless of who the free agents are. Donnie does exactly that, while also putting us in position to have a chance(even if its .0000001%) to obtain Lebron or DWade etc. And somehow as a fan base we are so beaten down by the past 7 years, that we are actually upset by it. We are in position to get a top free-agent, or even a good 2nd tier free agent. We have rid ourselves of the cancerous and soon will be rid of the lazy. We have nothing but short term contracts and young players that can help us here or be used in trade.

Despite all this, for some reason the drum is still being beaten that it is "Lebron(insert free agent name) or bust". The media is ridiculous. Some fans are ridiculous. It's all rigoshdamndiculous.

It's ridiculous!

cotdayamskippy

I just don't want to see LeBron take a deuce on the franchise, but that's the road that it feels like we're on.

Posted by TheGame:

I think it is highly likely that Lebron and Wade reup. I think Bosh wants out of Toronto or at least is not happy enough there to reup unless he got really concerned about the economy or the CBA. Anthony will probably reup too. If it happens, it happens. Creating cap space was about more than just Lebron. We needed to create some flexibility to our roster. Obviously, if Lebron resigns, then you have to think about whether we are better off keeping Lee and Nate. I still think one has to go and my choice would be Lee at the moment.

Good post and I agree. As for Nate and Lee, I go back and forth on that one. I think Nate is a unique talent and it's tough to find 6th men like that. Lee to me is the more reliable guy and a guy I'd like to keep but I would be really hesitant to pay him a ton of money. As good as he is, his d is pretty bad and he offers little in the way of helping on the interior. For me it's tough. I love them both. I go back and forth on who we should keep, but in the end I guess what it really means is that both are expendable in the right package.

I wonder what the teams will say when they ask for extensions. I don't think Bosh will get a Max deal from Toronto because of his injuries and I wonder if Joe Johnson will get a max deal from the Hawks sine they're so cheap all the time.

If I'm the team I might wait it out at this point. LeBron and Wade will get extended deals without a problem.