No BD... he is with the clippers

[Brotha2ThaNite]

Well, the guy finally got his dream. I remember when he was drafted by the Hornets. He told them he would not sign with them. He wanted to be a clipper. Well, Paul Sila was not going for that... the year before he got there the Hornets gave Kobe to the Lakers. LOL Just think if Paul was there a year eariler Kobe could still be in the queen city.

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Davis verbally agrees to go to Clippers, leave Warriors

ESPN.com news services

Baron Davis shocked the Warriors by opting out of his contract on Monday. Imagine their surprise now.

NBA front-office sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the guard reached a verbal agreement with the Clippers on Tuesday night and will sign a new multiyear contract with Los Angeles after the leaguewide moratorium on signings and trades is lifted July 9.

Davis was in line to make $17.8 million in the last year of his deal with the Warriors, but after telling the team that he wanted to stay, opted out at the last minute.

Sources told ESPN.com that Davis, 29, will receive a five-year deal worth an estimated $65 million.

Forward Elton Brand also opted out of his contract with the Clippers on Monday, and speculation quickly began that the team would try to keep Brand and sign Davis. This scenario is only possible if the Clippers renounce the rights of Corey Maggette and Brand takes a slight pay cut.

Sources say the Clippers are expected to do just that and quickly reach a verbal agreement to bring back Brand.

Maggette opted out of his deal on Monday as well.

Davis averaged 21.8 points, 7.6 assists and 4.7 rebounds last season for a Warriors team that won 48 games but did not make the playoffs.

Senior writer Marc Stein covers the NBA for ESPN.com.

[Cwell]

it was no Baron Davis from the get go and everybody should have known that.

[Diesel]

This is actually good for us.

If LAC goes over the Luxury cap, then that's more money in escrow and that means that there's more reason for us to go over the Luxury cap to sign our free agents.

[sturt]

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This scenario is only possible if the Clippers renounce the rights of Corey Maggette and Brand takes a slight pay cut.

Sources say the Clippers are expected to do just that and quickly reach a verbal agreement to bring back Brand.

I've always thought, though not having been at the table maybe I presume too much, that GMs need to approach players like Smoove and Chilz with a master plan that shows forethought as to how the team's roster and salary structure is designed to get that team to a position where they can legitimately contend for a championship... and, that players need to approach those plans with great scrutiny, and a lot of questions... with the result being that both sides have some buy-in about the future of the team, and thus, a greater inclination by the players to accomodate other current, and future needs for the roster.

I don't mean to suggest that this isn't already done. If it is, it is not publicly understood to be common practice. But I have to think that, particularly if I'm a player at Sund's Stage 3 or 4, I'm eager to understand where I fit into the master plan from his perspective... and to give him some feedback on how I think the master plan needs to be modified, to the degree that I think that... and then, assuming there's adequate agreement, given those parameters, to come to an agreement on a contract that fits into that master plan.

My inclination is that that may be a more transparent process than many feel comfortable with, since it would coincidentally reveal future projections/expectations of players' achievement on the team--some of which may not be greeted very well if, as one would suspect, the information gets passed along to other players. But nonetheless, I think everyone likes to know (a) how the management intends to go forward, (b) where everyone stands in that picture, and © sets some parameters for understanding player evaluations the next off-season.

[Packfill]

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This scenario is only possible if the Clippers renounce the rights of Corey Maggette and Brand takes a slight pay cut.

Sources say the Clippers are expected to do just that and quickly reach a verbal agreement to bring back Brand.

I've always thought, though not having been at the table maybe I presume too much, that GMs need to approach players like Smoove and Chilz with a master plan that shows forethought as to how the team's roster and salary structure is designed to get that team to a position where they can legitimately contend for a championship... and, that players need to approach those plans with great scrutiny, and a lot of questions... with the result being that both sides have some buy-in about the future of the team, and thus, a greater inclination by the players to accomodate other current, and future needs for the roster.

I don't mean to suggest that this isn't already done. If it is, it is not publicly understood to be common practice. But I have to think that, particularly if I'm a player at Sund's Stage 3 or 4, I'm eager to understand where I fit into the master plan from his perspective... and to give him some feedback on how I think the master plan needs to be modified, to the degree that I think that... and then, assuming there's adequate agreement, given those parameters, to come to an agreement on a contract that fits into that master plan.

My inclination is that that may be a more transparent process than many feel comfortable with, since it would coincidentally reveal future projections/expectations of players' achievement on the team--some of which may not be greeted very well if, as one would suspect, the information gets passed along to other players. But nonetheless, I think everyone likes to know (a) how the management intends to go forward, (b) where everyone stands in that picture, and © sets some parameters for understanding player evaluations the next off-season.

It is a lot easier to do that with veterans who have already made their money versus young up and coming players still searching for that big payday.

Brand was willing to forego some money so that the organization could put a competitive team on the floor. Smith and Childress, and Marvin and Horford in future years, are not only looking for their big pay day but they are also still developing as players. A lot of the money Smith will get is still based on his potential.

[sturt]

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It is a lot easier to do that with veterans who have already made their money versus young up and coming players still searching for that big payday... A lot of the money Smith will get is still based on his potential.

True.

And yet... it's more necessary and more efficacious with the young and upcoming players who are in a position like Smith. The veterans at that level are ordinarily known quantities. Not to go negative, but the NBA is full of players at Smith's stage where clubs gambled and didn't see progress match potential... which, in turn, corrodes maneuverability when it comes time to acquire that one or two players who can legitimately put the team into a contending position.

It's not unlike a young up-and-coming QB in the NFL making accomodations in their contract to accomodate the players around him (--which of course, their rules make it more easily to shift money from one year to another).

[Packfill]

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It is a lot easier to do that with veterans who have already made their money versus young up and coming players still searching for that big payday... A lot of the money Smith will get is still based on his potential.

True.

And yet... it's more necessary and more efficacious with the young and upcoming players who are in a position like Smith. The veterans at that level are ordinarily known quantities. Not to go negative, but the NBA is full of players at Smith's stage where clubs gambled and didn't see progress match potential... which, in turn, corrodes maneuverability when it comes time to acquire that one or two players who can legitimately put the team into a contending position.

It's not unlike a young up-and-coming QB in the NFL making accomodations in their contract to accomodate the players around him (--which of course, their rules make it more easily to shift money from one year to another).

Unfortunately, that is not the way it works in the NBA.

[skyhawk]

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I've always thought, though not having been at the table maybe I presume too much, that GMs need to approach players like Smoove and Chilz with a master plan that shows forethought as to how the team's roster and salary structure is designed to get that team to a position where they can legitimately contend for a championshipfor the roster.I

That might work for a veteran player but if I'm a young guy coming off of a rookie contract - I'm looking to get paid. I'd consider staying only if I were maxed out - which only happens for young players on the cusp of super stardom ala Chris Paul, Dwight Howard , etc..

[exodus]

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I've always thought, though not having been at the table maybe I presume too much, that GMs need to approach players like Smoove and Chilz with a master plan that shows forethought as to how the team's roster and salary structure is designed to get that team to a position where they can legitimately contend for a championshipfor the roster.I

That might work for a veteran player but if I'm a young guy coming off of a rookie contract - I'm looking to get paid. I'd consider staying only if I were maxed out - which only happens for young players on the cusp of super stardom ala Chris Paul, Dwight Howard , etc..

Not to mention Smith was the 17th pick in the draft and hasn't been paid much by NBA standards relative to his performance.

[sturt]

All of this that I've said is only to suggest that players get "paid" in two ways. Some stronger understanding of that, at critical moments like this week, would seem to work toward the player being paid both in terms of money and in terms of glory... at least would work better than purely seeing the transaction in terms of getting the money.

But if one really must see everything in terms of hard cash... championship rings tend to increase one's market value over those without them... "having been there" tends to mean something at the next contract negotiation.