This offseason, Larry Bird isn’t showing much flex. He has made some offers, but they are all under his terms. When the terms of the David West acquisition came out (two years, $20 million), I was floored. I had long thought that the Pacers signing West would be a mistake. But that was based off a fear of his knee and age, and — most importantly — presuming it would take a four-year offer north of $38 million to sign the former All-Star forward.
But nabbing a guy of his talent, who may have no fall-off from his knee injury, for only $10 million and only committed for two years? That’s not just a no-brainer. It’s genius. On Twitter, me and Tim were speculating about how Bird might have been able to pull this off.
I thought that the Legend must have brought in Rick, the bald pawn broker from the TV show Pawn Stars. He is a notoriously tough negotiator and my joke was that the conversation between the Rick and David West’s agent went something like this.
David West’s agent: “We’re looking for a four-year offer.”
Pawn Star General Manager: “I was thinking more like two.”
West’s agent: “I can’t go that low. How about three?”
Pawn Star GM: “How about one?”
West agent: ” … … hmmm … … OK. You’ve got a deal.”
Pawn Star GM: “All right. *shakes hands* Let’s go do some paperwork.”
Tim had a different theory: “How did Bird get West for 2 years? Perhaps, ‘I’m Larry ****ing Bird’ occasionally works.”
Reports also had Bird sticking to his guns in the OJ Mayo-for-Josh McRoberts trade discussions. Larry wanted Mayo — has targeted him repeatedly now — but he seemed unwilling, according to reports, to do the deal unless the Grizzlies took back the final year of Brandon Rush’s contract (worth $2.9 million). Now, word is that those talks collapsed because the Grizzlies took Mayo off the table (perhaps due to a significant injury to another of their guards, Xavier Henry). But they were definitely interested in McRoberts and Mayo seemed someone they were willing to part with at the right price. To some degree, we can postulate that Bird simply was not prepared to meet that price.
There may be another reason for that: Jamal Crawford. He has been high on the list of players Bird is reportedly trying to sign this offseason. He would definitely fill what is to me the team’s most glaring need: someone who can create his own shot off the dribble. It is clear why Bird would want to add Jamal’s arsenal of offensive weapons to a perimeter rotation that includes Danny Granger, Paul George, Darren Collison and George Hill. There isn’t a dynamic penetrator or high-level shot-creator among that lot.
So, especially with the Mayo-as-dynamic-ball-handler option now dead, Bird has to be panicking, right? He must be calling Crawford’s agent to sweeten the pot?
Sources w/knowledge of deal say Pacers have two-year offer out to Jamal Crawford worth $10M with out to return to free agency next summer
Again, he is offering a guy who was presumed to be near the top of the free agent crop only two years. The player option next year is a carrot that suggests “I’m not trying to hurt your potential to make money on your own terms over the next few years, but I’m not guaranteeing you the three or four years of financial security you’re seeking.”
Pacers, though, could still be outbid by Wolves, who want Crawford to play 2 guard next to Rubio with Barea completing three-guard rotation
If Bird misses out on both Mayo and Crawford (not to mention the other players we have no evidence he has played hardball with), he may face some criticism. And that will be fair. But wasn’t the opposite approach what everyone blamed the lockout on? Wasn’t in the fiscal irresponsibility of small-market teams signing players to insane contracts half the problem?
I’m sure Larry doesn’t care about that. But he does seem to be setting his price and refusing to budge. He knows these assets on the market have value. But he knows he needs to turn a profit.
He wants to make a deal, but he doesn’t need to make a deal.
According to Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal, the discussions regarding a deal centered on the Pacers acquiring Grizzlies guard OJ Mayo in a sign-and-trade for free agent forward Josh McRoberts have ceased. Memphis officials have told OJ to stop worrying about what he hears in the media; he isn’t going anywhere.
Proposed Mayo-McRoberts deal is officially dead, source tells the CA. Mayo told this morning that he won’t be traded anywhere.
Memphis has decided not to trade guard OJ Mayo, according to sources.
We don’t know why the talks ended. Perhaps Larry Bird pulled out because he has found another deal he likes better that we have yet to hear about? (Jamal Crawford?) Perhaps Bird was playing too much hard ball, demanding that Memphis takes back Brandon Rush. Or, as Tillery mentions, perhaps it had to do with the Grizzlies now seeing Mayo as a little less expendable after some recent injuries have cut into their guard depth.
Mayo decision comes as X[avier] Henry sits out of practice today due to sprained right ankle. S[am] Young also hasnt practiced due to ankle injury
Stuff like that could matter more in a 66-game schedule, so it may indeed be a factor.
Griz looking at signing McRoberts as UFA but McRoberts likely to take more money, bigger role from Lakers
If this is the case, it begs the question of why McRoberts wasn’t just headed to Los Angeles this whole time. Seems like a better situation and, ya know, everyone wants to go there these days. Guess he thought Memphis — the team or the town — could have been a good fit. Either way, it would be nice to see how he can fit into the Lakers front court.
One of the new components of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement was a one-time “get out of jail free” card for teams. This “amnesty” provision meant that a team could waive one player and not have his salary count against its salary cap any longer. They still have to pay the guy; its just doesn’t matter for cap purposes.
Pose is a pro’s pro: a gamer with a few championship rings and a litany of big playoff performances. But he is on his last legs, has no on-court role with this franchise and makes about $7.6 million more than he is worth. He was a jump-shooting pylon last year. Of the 81 shots he made last year, he was assisted on 74 of them, good for 91.4% of his made field goals. What this illustrates is a stunning lack of ability to create offense for himself and simply a lack of movement. By contrast, Danny Granger — a scorer who is widely maligned for his inability to create his own shots — was only assisted on 51% of his made shots. (For reference, a true creator like Dwyane Wade has spent most of his career with fewer than 30% of his shots coming off of assists.)
Another glaring stat is the 15 free-throw attempts Posey took during his 839 minutes on the court in 2010-11. That’s one free throw attempt every 56 minutes on the court. For reference of how inactive you have to be on offense to have such a poor foul-generating rate, Jeff Foster took a free throw every 20 minutes last season.
Now, I’m not trying to kick the guy why he is down. I’ve always loved James Posey as both a player and a personality in this league. I’m just trying to show Pacers fans that there is no downside here. Posey was not going to get any minutes — certainly not any productive ones — and with a $7.6 million salary, he had no value in the trade market.
What this does do for the team, however, is give them nearly $8 million in cap room.
Perhaps the timing of this means that the Pacers may be about to acquire OJ Mayo from Memphis. The chatter from NBA reporters is that the Grizzlies are receptive to sending back Mayo in a sign-and-trade deal for Josh McRoberts, but Larry Bird wants them to also take Brandon Rush, presumably for salary reasons and because the Pacers roster is getting cluttered on the wing. And Memphis doesn’t really want either Rush or his contract. Or both.
Either way, the decision to amnesty Posey, says Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star, may mean Bird is softening on the Rush aspect of the deal and is making room to both take on Mayo’s $5.9 million deal and still have flexibility under the cap.
Or it could just mean they were planning to do this all along (Posey hasn’t been in training camp) and this was the day they signed the paperwork. Either way, it gives the Pacers another $8 million to do something if they so choose.
And as we keep finding out, flexibility is fun.
* This post has been updated to correct Posey’s salary. It previously was listed as $6.9 million
But since the Rockets reportedly sent a 4 year/$55 million offer to Grizzlies center Marc Gasol, it would seem thatslain rapper Memphis GM Chris Wallace has more important matters to address than trying to acquire Josh McRoberts. Popular opinion among NBA insiders is that the Grizzlies will match that offer sheet if Gasol signs it, but they obviously will be making phone calls and deliberating on the future of one of the franchise’s cornerstones for the immediate future.
So while I wouldn’t expect any immediate news on the possibility of OJ Mayo bringing his two-way talents to the Pacers’ back court rotation, that is not necessarily a sign that it won’t happen. Just stay tuned on the Gasol news and then expect to hear more about Mayo.
Larry Bird, the Pawn Stars GM, Reportedly Has Offered Jamal Crawford a Two-Year Deal
by Jared Wade on December 13, 2011 at 2:23 pm · 5 comments
This offseason, Larry Bird isn’t showing much flex. He has made some offers, but they are all under his terms. When the terms of the David West acquisition came out (two years, $20 million), I was floored. I had long thought that the Pacers signing West would be a mistake. But that was based off a fear of his knee and age, and — most importantly — presuming it would take a four-year offer north of $38 million to sign the former All-Star forward.
But nabbing a guy of his talent, who may have no fall-off from his knee injury, for only $10 million and only committed for two years? That’s not just a no-brainer. It’s genius. On Twitter, me and Tim were speculating about how Bird might have been able to pull this off.
I thought that the Legend must have brought in Rick, the bald pawn broker from the TV show Pawn Stars. He is a notoriously tough negotiator and my joke was that the conversation between the Rick and David West’s agent went something like this.
David West’s agent: “We’re looking for a four-year offer.”
Pawn Star General Manager: “I was thinking more like two.”
West’s agent: “I can’t go that low. How about three?”
Pawn Star GM: “How about one?”
West agent: ” … … hmmm … … OK. You’ve got a deal.”
Pawn Star GM: “All right. *shakes hands* Let’s go do some paperwork.”
Tim had a different theory: “How did Bird get West for 2 years? Perhaps, ‘I’m Larry ****ing Bird’ occasionally works.”
Reports also had Bird sticking to his guns in the OJ Mayo-for-Josh McRoberts trade discussions. Larry wanted Mayo — has targeted him repeatedly now — but he seemed unwilling, according to reports, to do the deal unless the Grizzlies took back the final year of Brandon Rush’s contract (worth $2.9 million). Now, word is that those talks collapsed because the Grizzlies took Mayo off the table (perhaps due to a significant injury to another of their guards, Xavier Henry). But they were definitely interested in McRoberts and Mayo seemed someone they were willing to part with at the right price. To some degree, we can postulate that Bird simply was not prepared to meet that price.
There may be another reason for that: Jamal Crawford. He has been high on the list of players Bird is reportedly trying to sign this offseason. He would definitely fill what is to me the team’s most glaring need: someone who can create his own shot off the dribble. It is clear why Bird would want to add Jamal’s arsenal of offensive weapons to a perimeter rotation that includes Danny Granger, Paul George, Darren Collison and George Hill. There isn’t a dynamic penetrator or high-level shot-creator among that lot.
So, especially with the Mayo-as-dynamic-ball-handler option now dead, Bird has to be panicking, right? He must be calling Crawford’s agent to sweeten the pot?
Nope.
Mark Stein of ESPN recently reported the following.
Again, he is offering a guy who was presumed to be near the top of the free agent crop only two years. The player option next year is a carrot that suggests “I’m not trying to hurt your potential to make money on your own terms over the next few years, but I’m not guaranteeing you the three or four years of financial security you’re seeking.”
And this is with the full knowledge that Jamal has other teams bidding for his services.
If Bird misses out on both Mayo and Crawford (not to mention the other players we have no evidence he has played hardball with), he may face some criticism. And that will be fair. But wasn’t the opposite approach what everyone blamed the lockout on? Wasn’t in the fiscal irresponsibility of small-market teams signing players to insane contracts half the problem?
I’m sure Larry doesn’t care about that. But he does seem to be setting his price and refusing to budge. He knows these assets on the market have value. But he knows he needs to turn a profit.
He wants to make a deal, but he doesn’t need to make a deal.
He’s the Pawn Stars GM.
Related Topics: David West, Jamal Crawford, Larry Bird, Memphis Grizzlies, OJ Mayo, Pawn Stars
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