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If you
use the formula laid out in the NBA’s collective
bargaining agreement, there are 27 players who are
playing under active maximum contracts. The value of
these contracts varies—it depends on several factors,
including a predetermined percentage of the salary cap,
the player’s experience, the league’s worldwide
basketball-related income, Shaq’s shoe size, the weight
of a henway and the price of tea in
China.
It is confusing. But, what is abundantly clear is this:
if you are an NBA executive or coach and you see a
maximum-contract player, you are well-advised to run and
hide.
Money
can’t buy happiness. What’s more, in the NBA, maximum
money seems to guarantee unhappiness. At least paying
players the league max leads a high percentage of those
players to say and do things that are utterly daft. Such
as demand a trade away from the team that agreed to pay
them all that money.
Stephon
Marbury of the Knicks is the latest example. He has not
demanded to be dealt, but he did respond to a potential
benching last week by walking out on the team (an
absence Marbury says was excused). That action, in a
way, can only be interpreted as a request for a trade.
Upon hearing of the benching, on the team plane, Marbury
reportedly confronted coach Isiah Thomas, threatened to
expose some damaging information about Thomas, then just
did not show up for work the next day. Thomas, desperate
for a win, allowed Marbury back the next day. Around the
league, though, front offices were already wondering
whether a Marbury trade was worth it.
It’s
max-contract players gone wild out there. Marbury is the
sixth max player in recent months to decide that his
working conditions are unbearable. Thomas could lose his
job in the Marbury fallout. Beyond that, a divorce could
be the only alternative for the Knicks and Marbury. But
remember, it appeared that way for the other five
max-contract-makin’, trade-demandin’ divas, too. A look
at how those players are faring now provides an idea of
some possible outcomes should the Knicks keep Marbury:
THE
DOWNRIGHT GOOD
Kobe Bryant. Bryant’s trade demands were made six months
ago. Seems like six years now. He has been as productive
as ever, averaging 27.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 5.3
assists, and the Lakers have been resilient despite a
difficult early schedule. Lamar Odom is back and, with
the addition of point guard Derek Fisher, the Lakers are
the deepest they’ve been in the post-Shaquille O’Neal
era. Slowly, the trade talk is dying. Bryant, who has a
no-trade clause, reportedly quashed a trade to
Detroit—not the action of a man desperate to leave his
situation.
THE NOT
SO SURPRISINGLY GOOD
Shawn
Marion. The Suns were never desperate to trade the
disgruntled Marion because they knew he could be easily
re-gruntled.
Marion
can be moody, but he is not a bad guy and he’s never a
slacker on the court. The Suns figured he would be
unlikely to ruin chemistry. So far, they’ve been right.
Marion is averaging 17.7 points and 11.7 rebounds.
THE
GOOD, FOR NOW
Andrei
Kirilenko. Not long ago, Kirilenko was sure he could not
coexist with coach Jerry Sloan and was begging for a
trade. But Sloan has been careful this season to offer
praise and go easy on criticism when it comes to
Kirilenko. The results have been positive, as Kirilenko
is back to putting up well-stuffed stat lines. Is all
well in
Utah, then? Well enough, at least. Says one general
manager, “They were never serious about trading him
because they knew if they did it after his worst year,
they wouldn’t get anything. But the problems he had with
[Sloan] are still there. If he keeps playing like this,
he will raise his value, and you could see [a trade]
next summer.”
THE
DISAPPOINTING
Pau Gasol. The Grizzlies supported Gasol when he broke a
bone in his left foot while playing for
Spain
during the World Championship in 2006. Once healthy, he
rewarded them with a halfhearted effort and a midseason
trade demand. It was only this summer, after meeting
with new coach Marc Iavaroni and after the Grizzlies
traded for his friend and countryman, Juan Carlos
Navarro, that Gasol backed off his demand. Still,
Gasol’s early averages (17.6 points and 6.4 rebounds)
are subpar. The team is rebuilding, and there’s some
question of how well Gasol fits into Iavaroni’s uptempo
vision. He could be trade bait again.
THE BAD
Jermaine
O’Neal. Few players are carrying a sourpuss the way
O’Neal is these days. The helter-skelter coaching style
of Jim O’Brien (More threes, lads! More threes!) has
been brutal on O’Neal, who was much better off in the
deliberate, halfcourt style of O’Brien’s predecessor,
Rick Carlisle. The Lakers could resurrect talks for
O’Neal. Or, heck, the Knicks would probably be willing
to part with Marbury. |
