Over the coming weeks and possibly months, the eventual resolution of the Dwight Howard situation will be the first major test of how, if at all, the new CBA has shifted the dynamics behind teams’ efforts to retain their franchise players.
The new rules were designed to increase the leverage of teams while reducing the power players possess to dictate when and where they will be moved.
The home team, which holds the player’s Bird Rights, can offer 7.5% annual salary raises, compared to 4.5% annual raises for all other teams. The home team can also offer a fifth contract year while all other teams are limited to four.
And perhaps most significantly, a loophole has been closed: The player can no longer receive the larger annual raises and extra contract year with a sign-and-trade from the home team to another team. The only way, as a free agent, that the player can receive these twin benefits is by staying put.
Another scenario is for the player to be traded, prior to free agency, transferring Bird Rights to the acquiring team which would then be able to offer the larger raises and an extra year. This, of course, is the essence of Howard’s request that the Magic deal him to one of his preferred destinations – reportedly New Jersey or Dallas – before this year’s March 15th trade deadline.
Will the new rules be sufficient to keep All-Stars like Howard, who have expressed a strong desire to relocate, with their current teams?
Whether the Magic front office feels comfortable enough to press its advantages at the risk of losing Howard without compensation if he simply signs elsewhere – and how Howard’s camp would then respond, as a real measure of how strongly Howard values a change of scenery over financial security – will answer the question.
Jerry West stated recently that if he found himself in the middle of such a dilemma, he would opt to try calling the player’s bluff.
“If I were an executive on a team where a player says he’s going to leave, let him leave,” West said.
Otis Smith, general manager of the Magic, might agree with West.
“He can still walk, but with a $30 million haircut,” Smith said of Howard.
It’s difficult to say, of course, whether Smith is truly prepared to follow this course of action or is simply posturing.
Below are the actual salary figures of the free-agent contract that the Magic can offer Howard compared to any other team, like the Nets or Mavericks, both of which project to have the available salary cap room to sign Howard outright this coming offseason.
Such a maximum-salary contract offer from Orlando would be $29.8 million larger than any other in total, but over the same four years, the difference is just $5.1M. Said another way, approximately 83% of Orlando’s financial edge comes from the extra fifth season, with the rest a product of the larger annual raises over the first four years.
The lion’s share of Orlando’s leverage could be decided by how confident Howard is in earning a maximum-salary contract in the season after his contract with New Jersey or Dallas would expire. Howard would be 31-and-one-half years of age when he went back on the free-agent market again (if he did not extend his contract before then, which certainly should not be taken as a given).
The first year of Howard's second contract with a new team, otherwise known as Year 5 if he remains with the Magic, would be no less than $21,741,334.
Orlando’s Free-Agent Max Offer to Howard
Year 1: $18,996,359 Year 2: $20,421,086 Year 3: $21,845,813 Year 4: $23,270,540 Year 5: $24,695,267 ________________
$109,229, 065
Other Teams’ Free-Agent Max Offer to Howard
Year 1: $18,996,359 Year 2: $19,566,250 Year 3: $20,136,141 Year 4: $20,706,032 ________________
Greg Oden has no intention of calling it quits, according to a source close to the situation.
"It's hard to put into words the heartbreak for everyone involved, but especially for Greg," said Blazers president Larry Miller. "He's a young man who has experienced a great number of physical challenges in his playing career and today is yet another significant setback for him. We have a lot of empathy for Greg and his family during this difficult time."
Oden has appeared in just 82 games over the last five seasons.
"Greg's still very young, in relative terms, for a professional basketball player," acting GM Chad Buchanan told reporters. "He's recovered from a couple of these before. His last two microfracture lesions have healed fine. So there's no reason to think he couldn't come back as long as he shows the work ethic and desire that he's had in the past to come back. I think it's premature to speculate anything beyond that."
Joe Johnson underwent an MRI in Atlanta on Tuesday, and he was diagnosed with left knee tendinitis. As previously announced, he’ll miss the Hawks’ next two games.
In addition, Johnson won’t participate in this weekend’s All-Star game and activities in Orlando. He will be re-evaluated prior to Atlanta’s first game after the All-Star break
Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe is reporting that Rajon Rondo will replace Johnson on the Eastern Conference All-Star team.
Nene missed most of training camp because of contract negotiations and has battled injuries this winter, appearing in only 23 of the Nuggets’ 33 games
George Karl said getting Nene back to speed "might not even happen this year."
Nene is averaging 30.6 minutes, 13.4 points and 7.8 rebounds.
"His conditioning, being out this long, how we keep him in shape and how we get him to be a 35-minute player might not happen," Karl said. "We might just have to rotate and play the big guys. It's actually been pretty fluid the past few games."
CSKA Moscow clinched a spot in the Euroleague Playoffs with a 96-64 win over Olympiacos on Wednesday.
CSKA had a 54-26 lead at halftime.
Andrey Vorontsevich led CSKA with 15 points on seven shots, while Andrei Kirilenko had q1 points and seven rebounds. CSKA had seven players score eight or more points.
Eddy Curry has received limited minutes during his tenure with the Heat.
"We're looking at big picture," Erik Spoelstra said. "He's come a long way, he really has. And the fact that he's not necessarily in the rotation right now does not necessarily mean anything. It doesn’t mean that he doesn't still have an opportunity. It doesn't mean that he hasn't made a lot of progress, because he has.
"It means we offered an opportunity for him here and he's developing. He's getting in terrific condition and the toughest part is trying to get him up to speed to our system when we don't have our normal set of practices."
Gregg Popovich sacrificed the Spurs’ 11-game win streak to rest Tim Duncan and Tony Parker in his team’s 137-97 blowout loss Tuesday night at Portland.
“(Tim) and Tony need a rest,” Popovich said before tipoff. “Everybody's played a lot of games, and somewhere along the line, everybody gives somebody a rest, and I think we've reached that point.
“Whether it's three games in four nights or X nights before, I don't know, I've lost track. But we've been going and going and going, and if we don't do it now, I think we're asking for trouble later.”
Duncan and Parker joined in injured players Tiago Splitter, Manu Ginobili and T.J. Ford on the Spurs' inactive list.
“We've had the same goal for 15 years: To be the best team we can possibly be come playoff time,” Popovich said before the game. “We've never ever talked about what our record should be, whether we are going to win a championship, or not. Never. It's never come up in any practice or game for 15 years.
“We just try to get better every day, and whatever happens, happens.”
The departure of Mike James from the Erie Bayhawks of the D-League one day before signing a 10-day deal with the Bulls was cited as being for "personal reasons."
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