The Happy Crow Thread

[Dan H]

I told a coworker that the Chris Paul trade was a stupid PR transaction the day after it happened.

Never so happy to be wrong.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

He’s been the anti-emmitt smith.

 

[Ronin]

 

[CardsSunsDbacks]

It's all good. Even those of us that thought he would be good didn't think he would have this much of an effect.

 

[Proximo]

How would you feel if we give him say a 3 year 90 million dollar extension this offseason? I have a feeling it may happen.

Because even after the year he has had that would make me very nervous.

 

[Mainstreet]

How would you feel if we give him say a 3 year 90 million dollar extension this offseason? I have a feeling it may happen.

Because even after the year he has had that would make me very nervous.

Chris Paul is to receive $44,211,146 next season if he doesn't opt out of his contract.

If he does opt out, how does 3 years at $120 million sound? That's $40 million a season.

It would be about $4 million less than he would earn if he didn't opt out next season but adds 2 more seasons at $40 million each.

 

[Hoop Head]

Chris Paul is to receive $44,211,146 next season if he doesn't opt out of his contract.

If he does opt out, how does 3 years at $120 million sound? That's $40 million a season.

It would be about $4 million less than he would earn if he didn't opt out next season but adds 2 more seasons at $40 million each.

That's high, really high. I have no doubt he would accept it but I think we should try to get him to take more of a discount by opting out now and paying him more long term. I think 3 years at $100 million sounds fair. Anything lower would be great but I think $100-105 over 3 years sounds more realistic. He gives up $10 million next year but gets $70 over the next 2 seasons. I can't see him coming close to that in free agency.

 

[Mainstreet]

That's high, really high. I have no doubt he would accept it but I think we should try to get him to take more of a discount by opting out now and paying him more long term. I think 3 years at $100 million sounds fair. Anything lower would be great but I think $100-105 over 3 years sounds more realistic. He gives up $10 million next year but gets $70 over the next 2 seasons. I can't see him coming close to that in free agency.

Lower is always better when it comes to team salary. Hopefully I am way high. Three years at $105 million sounds much better. That's $35 million a season.

I'm assuming there will be competition for Paul so I bumped up the long term salary a bit and to buffer the loss of salary he would give up if he opts out.

Hopefully another team doesn't blow up the plan if the Suns want to go that direction.

It could be, Paul decides not to opt out.

 

[Proximo]

Chris Paul is to receive $44,211,146 next season if he doesn't opt out of his contract.

If he does opt out, how does 3 years at $120 million sound? That's $40 million a season.

It would be about $4 million less than he would earn if he didn't opt out next season but adds 2 more seasons at $40 million each.

It sounds insane to me.

He's 36. By the time he is 39 I don't see anyway he isn't at least 40-50% worse or more than he is now.

Look at how bad Vince Carter was when he got that old.

If we are keeping Cam Payne, I am thinking he may cost as much as 10 million a year.

We simply cannot afford to have a bad contract for Paul. We are going to have pay Mikal 20+ Deandre 20+ and Devin already is getting the max.

I am not sure I would give Paul any extension, and simply let him play out this one year.

With those kind of salary's how can anyone expect the team to be better than this years team? Yes Mikal and Deandre hopefully get better - but we will have zero money left over for a bench, and Paul will get worse - only question is how much.

 

[Mainstreet]

It sounds insane to me.

He's 36. By the time he is 39 I don't see anyway he isn't at least 40-50% worse or more than he is now.

Look at how bad Vince Carter was when he got that old.

What's your thoughts if Chris Paul opts out after the season. Do you want to keep him and how much do you pay him?

 

[Proximo]

What's your thoughts if Chris Paul opts out after the season. Do you want to keep him and how much do you pay him?

Well - I really doubt he will opt out if he cares about winning. No other good team is going to be willing to pay him as well - and we already know he wants to stay close to LA.

My absolute top would be the 3 years for 90 - and I really feel like that is probably too high. I actually think best case may be just let him play out is player option and go another way.

NBA TV ratings have sucked this year. Cap is not going to keep going up if things don't change with that.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Lower is always better when it comes to team salary. Hopefully I am way high. Three years at $105 million sounds much better. That's $35 million a season.

I'm assuming there will be competition for Paul so I bumped up the long term salary a bit and to buffer the loss of salary he would give up if he opts out.

Hopefully another team doesn't blow up the plan if the Suns want to go that direction.

It could be, Paul decides not to opt out.

I think the good news is few contenders will have $30M+ salary slots. So unless Paul wants to go to a rebuilding team he doesn’t have that kind of leverage. And I don’t think Paul wants to move backwards in terms of competitiveness at this juncture of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 3 year $96M contract. Remember, that third year is going to be age 39 or 40. I’d like to a descending value contract, if possible.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think the good news is few contenders will have $30M+ salary slots. So unless Paul wants to go to a rebuilding team he doesn’t have that kind of leverage. And I don’t think Paul wants to move backwards in terms of competitiveness at this juncture of his career. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 3 year $96M contract. Remember, that third year is going to be age 39 or 40. I’d like to a descending value contract, if possible.

The Knicks are probably the Suns primary competition as his former agent works runs the team. It's hard to know what other teams will do. Mostly kicking the tires to get an idea of Paul's value. Around $100 million give or take sounds about right for 3 years if he opts out.

 

[Mainstreet]

@Ouchie-Z-Clown

I was just looking at the Knicks salaries. They are going to have lots of money to spend this summer.

 

[Hoop Head]

Lower is always better when it comes to team salary. Hopefully I am way high. Three years at $105 million sounds much better. That's $35 million a season.

I'm assuming there will be competition for Paul so I bumped up the long term salary a bit and to buffer the loss of salary he would give up if he opts out.

Hopefully another team doesn't blow up the plan if the Suns want to go that direction.

It could be, Paul decides not to opt out.

I think Paul will have his agent talk to JJ about an extension. That's just the smart move. He has to know his salary is huge and could keep a smaller market team like the Suns from spending big for pieces around him. Teams won't be lining up to pay him $40+ million after next season so this could be his final big deal and opting out for long term stability should be worth him giving up a few million up front.

If he wants pieces added to this team then he's going to have to take a pay cut to allow that to happen. I think the 3 year deal around $100 gives us just enough flexibility to keep what's here and add one more piece to help out next year. That would give us just enough to resign Payne around 7-8 million a year and give us our MLE and Bi-Annual Exception without hitting the luxury tax.

 

[Chris_Sanders]

Paul is going to be 1st or 2nd team all NBA. I fully expect he opts out and gets an extension

 

[AzStevenCal]

NBA TV ratings have sucked this year. Cap is not going to keep going up if things don't change with that.

Yep, this year and last year the ratings have dropped considerably, we'll have to wait and see how much of that is due to Covid but the league does have some work to do. Mostly, they need to get rid of the super max and return the league to that (brief) time when max contracts were held mostly by franchise players instead of every Wiggins that comes along.

And they need to stop with the ever-increasing blackouts, things like that drive fans away IMO. Also, they need to put an end to the buy-outs that ultimately lead to the ridiculously rich getting even richer. They need to reduce the control held by players and probably need another agent re-adjustment.

It will be challenging but they need to do something about the flopping and ref baiting. Once they do that they can then focus on improving the quality and consistency of the referees.

This isn't a comprehensive list but basically we need Adam to toughen up or we need a commissioner that is as forward thinking as Silver but as much of a prick as David Stern.

I know a lot of people have blamed social activism (whether it's from the player, the team or the league) as the cause but I don't think the numbers there are at all significant. I suspect most of the people that point to that as their reason for not watching stopped following the NBA years ago (if they ever watched it).

 

[Mainstreet]

The NBA reports increased television ratings through the 2020-21 season. They are looking for a $75 billion rights package.

By Jabari Young, CNBC:


After the National Football League celebrated its history-making 11-year contract worth more than $100 billion, attention shifted to the NBA’s deal, which runs through the 2024-25 season. Early thinking within league circles suggests the NBA will seek a $75 billion rights package, up from its current $24 billion deal, which pays $2.6 billion per year.

One person familiar with sports media deals said the NBA could get $70.2 billion over nine years, using metrics including total viewer hours, which helps networks determine the value of sports league rights. The person also said tier-one sports rights are important to streaming services.


https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/22/nba...hts-increase-and-75-billion-is-the-price.html

 

[Hoop Head]

I think the NBA needs to move away from cable networks to try and regain some fans. Virtually no one I know has cable or satellite anymore. I knew a lot of cord cutters before Covid but that seemed to push more people in that direction because of tightening budgets.

Blackouts are an issue when it comes to sports as well and Covid should have loosened the restrictions but it doesn't seem to have changed much, if anything, in that regard. League Pass is also effected by it a ridiculous amount. Barring local fans from subscribing to their teams is an outdated model nowadays.

 

[Mainstreet]

And they need to stop with the ever-increasing blackouts, things like that drive fans away IMO. Also, they need to put an end to the buy-outs that ultimately lead to the ridiculously rich getting even richer. They need to reduce the control held by players and probably need another agent re-adjustment.

I'd settle for this... decreasing NBA blackouts and the buyouts where players that are bought out can go to the elite markets.

Maybe the days for blackouts are over and make the games more accessible as Hoop Head suggests.

I'm not sure how you keep free agent players going to where they want to go after they are bought out. Maybe making bought out players not eligible for the playoffs would help. Also saying buyouts cannot occur after the trade deadline.

 

[Hoop Head]

I'm not sure how you keep free agent players going to where they want to go after they are bought out. Maybe making bought out players not eligible for the playoffs would help. Also saying buyouts cannot occur after the trade deadline.

Two ways I'd adjust buyouts is make it so a team can't waive someone to sign a bought out player. That would make sense for the players union, or it should. You don't want players losing their spots in the league and only teams with open spots could then go after bought out players.

Second would be making it like a waiver claim. So the player doesn't control where they could go. If they don't like that aspect then they could sign anywhere they choose but they're ineligible for the playoffs, as you suggest.

 

[AzStevenCal]

I'm not sure how you keep free agent players going to where they want to go after they are bought out. Maybe making bought out players not eligible for the playoffs would help. Also saying buyouts cannot occur after the trade deadline.

I think they have to either penalize (or remove some of the benefit) of the buy-out from the team's side or they'd need to change the rules so that a bought out player is treated like a waived player.

 

[Mainstreet]

Two ways I'd adjust buyouts is make it so a team can't waive someone to sign a bought out player. That would make sense for the players union, or it should. You don't want players losing their spots in the league and only teams with open spots could then go after bought out players.

Second would be making it like a waiver claim. So the player doesn't control where they could go. If they don't like that aspect then they could sign anywhere they choose but they're ineligible for the playoffs, as you suggest.

The elite teams would probably just leave a couple roster spots open for buyouts so I'm not sure how that would work.

Once a player receives a buyout he must clear waivers so doing again would be like double jeopardy.

I'm not sure what would work but making them ineligible for the playoffs would help and take away some of the incentive for the elite teams to sign them.

 

[Mainstreet]

I think they have to either penalize (or remove some of the benefit) of the buy-out from the team's side or they'd need to change the rules so that a bought out player is treated like a waived player.

This is part of the problem. A player that is bought out goes through the waiver process afterwards.

 

[AzStevenCal]

This is part of the problem. A player that is bought out goes through the waiver process afterwards.

I didn't word it correctly and perhaps my assumption is incorrect but I think they become eligible as a waived player but only at their full contract amount rather their buyout number. Once they clear those waivers, they can then be signed for the minimum or whatever. I'm not that knowledgeable about contracts but I think that's how it goes. Nobody wants a Drummond at his full amount, a lot of teams would love to have him at the minimum.