A waste of money! We've got to get rid of this man

[JTB]

Can someone please tell me why speedy claxton is still on our team. We really and I mean really need to let this guy go, I mean damn he hasn't played in almost two whole seasons. Do you think we will release him?

Talk to me ATL.

[bronnt]

NBA contracts are guaranteed...Atlanta still owes him the money even if they ban him from the premises. There was discussion about talking him into early retirement, thus allowing them to recoup some of that money, but it went south. Can't trade the man, he hasn't done anything in two years. That's why he's still on the roster.

[JTB]

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NBA contracts are guaranteed...Atlanta still owes him the money even if they ban him from the premises. There was discussion about talking him into early retirement, thus allowing them to recoup some of that money, but it went south. Can't trade the man, he hasn't done anything in two years. That's why he's still on the roster.

So we cant release or trade him? Well damn I cant belive that so how would we be able to sign smith back, I thought the only way was to release claxton or am i wrong.

[Seano]

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NBA contracts are guaranteed...Atlanta still owes him the money even if they ban him from the premises. There was discussion about talking him into early retirement, thus allowing them to recoup some of that money, but it went south. Can't trade the man, he hasn't done anything in two years. That's why he's still on the roster.

I believe I read on this board that 80% of Speedy's contract is covered by insurance, so at least it's not a total loss. Still an utterly crappy situation- but it could be much, much worse. And if we were to just release him, then that insurance policy would just click off and we'd be responsible for his contract in its entirety, that according to Sekou Smith.

[Seano]

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So we cant release or trade him? Well damn I cant belive that so how would we be able to sign smith back, I thought the only way was to release claxton or am i wrong.

We could trade him in theory, but in reality it's difficult to imagine anyone possibly wanting him for any reason at all. If he were an expiring contract, then yeah- he'd have some value for us. But he's not. He's just dead weight, and we're unfortunately on the hook for him through 2010.

And Claxton's status has nothing to do with re-signing Josh Smith. It has absolutely no bearing on that situation at all, so don't worry about that. Unless something completely shocking happens, JS will be re-signed. The ASG has made that very clear.

[mattlanta]

LEAVE SPEEDY ALONE! HE'S GOING THROUGH SOME REALLY BAD TIMES IN HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW! His knee won't heal, his contract is putting too much money in his pants that it's just way too heavy for him, and now even casual fans are mocking him! Leave him alone!

[bronnt]

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LEAVE SPEEDY ALONE! HE'S GOING THROUGH SOME REALLY BAD TIMES IN HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW! His knee won't heal, his contract is putting too much money in his pants that it's just way too heavy for him, and now even

casual fans

are mocking him! Leave him alone!

Was this supposed to be like the Brittney freak out kid? You needed some crying faces in there if that were the case

[mattlanta]

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Quote:

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LEAVE SPEEDY ALONE! HE'S GOING THROUGH SOME REALLY BAD TIMES IN HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW! His knee won't heal, his contract is putting too much money in his pants that it's just way too heavy for him, and now even

casual fans

are mocking him! Leave him alone!

Was this supposed to be like the Brittney freak out kid? You needed some crying faces in there if that were the case

You're right.

"This post can no longer be edited because the maximum edit time has expired"

Damn.

[foeteen14]

if i'm not wrong speedy's contract can be bought out. teams do it all the time. it probably still counts against the cap though until his contract is supposed to run out. anyways, maybe next year he'll be a bargining chip or maybe we just let him come off the cap. i wish i could do nothing and make 6mill, he's got it made.

[pound4pound]

But its your day off.....

[DrReality]

He's got us by the balls. And it hurts to even cough.

[sturt]

Only way I can see that we take Speedy off the roster is to work out something another team with a longer-term contract that they desperately want rid of... and that they would be willing to take on some dead weight over two more years as an alternative to paying a someone in the bottom 1/3 of their roster too much for too long.

Given that choice, and since it's not likely that the other player would crack the top 2/3 of our roster either, I probably keep Speedy, too... and hope for the best.

[Zone034life]

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So we cant release or trade him? Well damn I cant belive that so how would we be able to sign smith back, I thought the only way was to release claxton or am i wrong.

Craigs contract won't affect Smoove signing but it will affect how much cap space the team will have to sign free agents. His 6 mil plus the MLE could be used to sign a James Jones or Jarvis Hayes and a Diop. Now the Hawks will be lucky to get one of those players.

[OGRat]

Can't teams go over the cap to sign their own free agents? Anyone know how that works? Does the team still get penalized on the luxury tax?

[DrReality]

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Can't teams go over the cap to sign their own free agents? Anyone know how that works? Does the team still get penalized on the luxury tax?

Yes they can and yes it does.

[jhay610]

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LEAVE SPEEDY ALONE! HE'S GOING THROUGH SOME REALLY BAD TIMES IN HIS LIFE RIGHT NOW! His knee won't heal, his contract is putting too much money in his pants that it's just way too heavy for him, and now even

casual fans

are mocking him! Leave him alone!

On my flight to ATL to catch game 6 I sat beside someone who claimed to be Craig's neighbor. I cant verify that as fact, but I have no reason to doubt it and can't understand why someone would make that up. He seemed the affluent businessman type.

Anyway, he said the guys in the neighborhood were always joning on him about not playing. Not-so-Speedy's response is that he really does want to play, but that he can't make the cuts and has no lateral quickness at all. He also said that although Speedy wants to play, he is VERY happy about his current situation; i.e., he does not at all mind that he is collecting a fat paycheck for doing nothing. It's an enviable situation to be in. There were some other details he mentioned but I forget.

Hey, I said it was "semi" interesting.