StarksEwing1 wrote:I doubt anybody gives Melo big money if he opts out.
AAV is less critical at this point than length of contract.
Melo care about "branding" and marketing. Big ticket athletes in the US, one of the bigger ways to evaluate their "marketability" is in their "Q Rating"
Your Q Rating takes a hit once you retire. It's not just not being in the limelight anymore, but also you are not keeping access to the many contacts and interpersonal relationships that help foster your opportunities. If you have a ring when you retire, it's a plus for your Q rating, if you don't, it tends to work against you. Many former players shift into coaching or the sports media to try to stay relevant.
The "ideal" marketing scenario for Melo is he takes a much lower AAV, but for four years. This would equalize out a situation where he takes a front loaded two year deal, then end up ring chasing for like the Room Exception for two years. Essentially, the money would likely equalize out over the four years either way. The benefit to Melo is the security. If he gets hurt badly, he's covered. A lower AAV will also make it much easier to trade him to a contender if he wants to ring chase.
A ring is worth more to his "brand" than some incremental dollar value over the last two years of his career.
Q Rating is a bit complex at times. Joey Harrington of the Detroit Lions had an insane Q Rating. The Falcons got him and admittedly, it was a factor in getting him on the roster, even if he was a deficient QB. The catch? Harrington had the most appeal of any pro athlete in America to the adult gay male demographic. They'd tune in to just watch Harrington.
Reggie Bush had a spiked Q Rating, not just because of the Kardashian factor, but also because he was considered very good looking at that drew in brands, advertisers and the like, that he appealed to women. Female consumer purchasing power in this country is pretty robust. In most American households, the majority of consumer purchasing decisions is made by the wife.
Melo has no ring. He's not charismatic. He's actually a liability to his own "brand" whenever he speaks. He comes off as just another young entitled selfish athlete who seems harmless enough because at least he's not a wife beater or a murderer or a criminal. But those are a dime a dozen in the game.
If Leon Rose of CAA is doing his job and Melo actually listens, AAV isn't the biggest factor here, contract length is the biggest factor and skirting under the Over 38 Rule.
You are going to ask, what does this have to do with winning. It has NOTHING to do with winning. But since when did Melo make decisions based on trying to win? Winning is only going to matter to him if it's incidental to pushing his cologne. Or cell phones. Or umbrellas. Or hat store. Or whatever idiotic thing he thinks will mean more to his "brand" than winning. This is the sad part, if he just focused RELENTLESSLY on being the best player he could be and winning, all this branding and money crap would take care of itself in it's own time. Tom Brady cares about winning first. He might be a cheater. He might cheat on his wife. He might be deflating balls. He might have had a secret tryst with Aaron Hernandez and Gronk. But he knows the branding will take care of itself. Ten years after Brady retires, he could probably run for President and win.
Melo is dumb. Leon Rose is not. My guess is Rose understands what Melo needs to do for his "brand" more than a few more million on his last two years of his NBA career.
8/24/2017 6:01 AM